Full Trade Package Shows Houston Astros Paid Ridiculous Price for Kikuchi

The Houston Astros landed their starting pitcher, but it took an absolute haul to get it done.

Apr 30, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros left fielder Joey Loperfido (10) takes the field to warm up prior to the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Minute Maid Park / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

It was known that the Houston Astros would be targeting a starting pitcher ahead of the trade deadline for a while based on comments made by general manager Dana Brown.

While others around the league were wheeling and dealing, including one of their division rivals, the Astros sat back patiently, seemingly surveying the market before sending out assets to bring in a piece who will help them in the second half of the season and during the playoffs.

That changed on Monday when they landed Yusei Kikuchi in a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

There was a hint that something might be coming, especially when Houston's scheduled starter, Jake Bloss, was scratched prior to his outing.

Around this period of the calendar, that normally means a player is going to be included in the deal, and sure enough, early reports indicated the young pitcher was going to be part of the package that brought Kikuchi into town.

It wasn't known who the other two prospects included in this deal were at the initial time the trade was reported, however, that information eventually came out, and it revealed the lofty price the Astros paid to get this completed.

In addition to Bloss, Houston also shipped out Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner.

When taking a look at this trade in totality, the Astros are getting a starting pitcher for the back half of this year who has only posted one season with a sub-4.00 ERA throughout his career, while shipping out their No. 2 prospect (Bloss), No. 5 prospect (Loperfido), and No. 19 prospect (Wagner) per Baseball America's rankings.

That is a massive price to pay for someone of Kikuchi's pedigree.

It should be pointed out that Houston doesn't have a highly-rated farm system, so where these minor leaguers would rank within a pipeline considered middle of the pack might change the way this is being framed, but still, this was certainly a prospect-rich package.

Factor in Wagner is the son of franchise legend Billy Wagner and Loperfido was shredding up Triple-A by hitting the most homers in minor league baseball before his MLB debut, this enough to make fans feel a little bit uncomfortable.

Simply put, Kikuchi has to be a difference maker for this trade to look even remotely competent.

It's unknown what discussions Brown had with other teams looking to sell, but this market has clearly raised the prices for impact arms across the board.

If Kikuchi is able to come in an produce solid innings for them when needed during the regular season, and have an impact when called upon in the playoffs, then they got exactly what they were searching for at this deadline.

But if he doesn't perform well, then this trade will likely be viewed as a disaster when the dust settles a few years down the line.