Los Angeles Angels Receive Poor Grade for Signing Former Houston Astros Pitcher

The Los Angeles Angels didn't receive high marks for signing former Houston Astros pitcher, Yusei Kikuchi.

Sep 23, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) walks on the field before the game against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros recently saw one of their free agents sign with another team, as Yusei Kikuchi signed a lucrative deal with the Los Angeles Angels. 

Coming into the offseason, the Astros knew they were going to be losing a couple of players in free agency. After years of success, some of their talented players are starting to hit the open market and they likely won’t be able to afford them all. 

While monitoring the Alex Bregman situation will be the most important thing for Houston this winter, they recently just saw one of their starting pitchers leave. 

Kikuchi was an excellent trade deadline deal for the Astros, and he was able to turn a really strong second half into a three-year, $63 million deal. 

This is a big number for the southpaw, but due to the Angels not being a very good team, they likely had to overpay a bit to get him. 

Recently, David Schoenfield of ESPN.com gave Los Angeles a poor grade of a C+ for the Kikuchi signing, and highlighted where things could go wrong. 

“It's just two months of performance that stands out from the rest of his career. Since signing with Seattle in 2019, Kikuchi has always had a plus fastball -- he has averaged 95 mph over the past four seasons, including a career-high 95.5 in 2024 -- but he's also never had a 2-WAR season. While he has been durable -- he made 20 starts in 2022 only because he was banished to the bullpen -- he has also been homer-prone. His control has improved the past two seasons, including a career-low 6% walk rate in 2024, so in combination with the increased slider usage, maybe this is a new and improved pitcher entering his age-34 season. Maybe.”

While the left-hander had a excellent second half of the season, the 33-year-old has a lifetime ERA of 4.57, and his age could be a slight concern as well on this deal. 

For the Angels, they haven’t made the best decisions when it comes to free agency in recent cycles, and this appears like it might not be a great move.

Paying a pitcher over $20 million annually at his age doesn't make much sense for a team that simply isn’t going to be competing for a playoff spot. 

When seeing how much Kikuchi received from Los Angeles, it was clear that Houston wasn't likely going to come anywhere near that number.

While it was a great trade for the Astros at the deadline, and he pitched superb in the second half of the season, letting him leave in free agency was the right choice.