Houston Astros Predicted To Lose Free Agent Ace to Past World Series Foe

The Houston Astros could lose one of their best assets to a team they are very familiar with.

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have some big questions looming over them this offseason after their earliest playoff exit in close to a decade.

Suffering a crushing Wild Card round loss to their old manager A.J. Hinch and the Detroit Tigers, it was the end of their remarkable streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances.

Heading into the winter, some of their most important players will face free agency decisions.

Naturally, the status of Alex Bregman feels like a cloud looming over everything else, but he's not the only player the Astros have to make a decision on.

Compared to Bregman, who has been with the team for nine years, one of their other big-name free agents has been in Houston for just three months.

Left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, acquired by the Astros from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline, picked a good time to go on an elite 10-game stretch with his new team before he hit the open market.

Set to now get paid handsomely, Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball predicted him to sign with the Atlanta Braves on a three-year deal worth $60 million.

"Set to lose Max Fried in free agency, and potentially Charlie Morton to retirement, the Braves need some starting pitching this winter and Kikuchi could be an ideal fit," Finkelstein wrote. "Set to cost less than Fried, and without a qualifying offer attached, the Braves could add another high-strikeout arm to their stable."

Kikuchi's run with Houston came somewhat out of nowhere.

In his 10 starts, he pitched to a 2.70 ERA, WHIP of 0.933, and a strikeout per nine innings rate of 11.4 - all numbers which would be career highs over a full season.

Even more interesting is the fact that, prior to being traded, Kikuchi was not having a campaign that was anything special for the Blue Jays with a 4.75 ERA over 22 starts.

Chances are Kikuchi's run in Houston was more of an outlier than a true representation of the kind of pitcher he is at this stage of his career.

Perhaps he found another gear as an Astro and could continue this kind of production, but an AAV of $20 million is quite the gamble, and might be the kind they would be better served letting someone else make.

If Kikuchi proves to be a flop, the Astros might get the last laugh over a Braves franchise who broke their hearts in the World Series three years ago.