Astros’ unheard of Yusei Kikuchi overpay feels like James Click’s revenge

The Houston Astros came into the trade deadline in desperate need of a starting pitcher and everyone knew it. Between all of the injuries the Astros suffered to their rotation and the fact that Dana Brown has talked at length about the team's need for a starting pitcher, it was a mortal lock that they were going to come away with an arm.

One starter option for Houston that had long been floated was Yusei Kikuchi, which made a ton of sense in theory. Kikuchi has good raw stuff and, as a pending free agent, his price tag should have been pretty reasonable compared to the more controllable arms on the market like Tyler Anderson or, at the extreme end, Garrett Crochet.

Well, the Astros did indeed trade for Kikuchi on Monday. However, instead of the move being a nice value play in a tough trade market, the trade instead looks like a massive overpay by a desperate front office that got taken advantage of by their former general manager, James Click.

The Astros got absolutely fleeced by Blue Jays in Kikuchi trade

Again, the Astros adding Kikuchi is not the problem here. While Kikuchi's 4.75 ERA this season isn't great and he has given up a lot of hard contact in 2024, he does miss bats and has good raw stuff for Houston to work with. For a team that just needed a rotation arm that would cover innings and possesses some upside, Kikuchi fit the bill in a vacuum.

The problem is the price the Astros paid for him. Kikuchi is making real money in 2024 and is going to be a free agent after the season, yet Houston still sent Joey Loperfido, Jake Bloss, and Will Wagner in order to land him. While Houston couldn't figure out how to utilize Loperfido's bat all year long, he still had much more value than as a trade piece for a rental starter. That the Astros gave him up, along with one of their best pitching prospects in Jake Bloss AND Will Wagner, who had an .853 OPS in Triple-A, is actual malpractice.

Making matters even more painful, one of the architects on Toronto's side is former Astros general manager James Click, who got run out of town despite being a big reason why Houston was able to stabilize as an organization in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal. Click and the Blue Jays knew the Astros were desperate and Click drafted both Loperfido and Wagner. If you think Toronto's front office wasn't doing fist pumps after this heist got finalized, you are sorely mistaken.

This trade market is one where sellers are few and far between and price tags are at unprecedented levels. However, the Kikuchi trade still stands out as a colossal overpay for a pitcher who might not be much better the rest of the season (if at all) than the pitching prospect they gave up in Bloss who was only one part of the deal.. Basically, the Astros just went all-in chasing a flush draw, and now fans just have to hope that the river hits. Otherwise, this deal could go down as one of the worst moves in franchise history.

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