Kikuchi

TalkZone
1

So far, so good. I wonder how long before Brown explores signing him to a future deal.

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2

I wouldn’t be surprised if they floated that balloon prior to the trade.

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3

Hoping a change of scenery and better coaching was all he needed. We desperately needed a guy who can go out and regularly give us 5+ innings a game. His change up is a very good weapon.

4

If he jells with the clubhouse and the results stay strong, should be an easy sell. And there’s a fair amount of payroll room with (probably) Bregman and (probably) Verlander off the books for ‘25.

5

So far so good.

I think a starter will need to be brought in.

However, there probably won’t be as much payroll available as you might think.

Per Cots Contracts 2024 est. CBT payroll is $258.8M

Bregman, JV, Kikuchi, A.Diaz, Graveman, and Ferguson are free agents which add up to $44.45M

Urquidy will likely be nontendered for another $3.75M

Altuve’s extension adds $1.65M.

That leaves 2025 payroll just over $212 (at 2024 salaries for players in arb.)

The 2025 CBT tiers are $241M, $261M, $281M, and $301M. And the penalties increase for 2nd consecutive year above 1st tier.

Available:
$29M until 1st tier
$49M until 2nd tier
$69M until 3rd tier

Then figure Tucker, Framber, Dubon, McCormick, Garcia, B.Abreu, Pena, and Meyers will all get raises in arbitration.

6

Reports out of Toronto post-trade were that he is an “awesome dude”

7

The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he’s a righteous dude.

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8

I just want you all to know that when I read ‘Kikuchi’ I hear Charro saying “Ok Kikuchi” in my mind.

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9

He seems like. I like how whenever the team wins a game that he starts (note not necessarily a game where he gets credit for the win), he opens a $3,000 bottle of Japanese whiskey to share with the team.

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10

I thought MLB banned alcohol in the clubhouse?

11

That seems very un-baseball-like, especially to my contemporaries in the little league coaching scene.

Maybe they go elsewhere.

This is where I read that:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/astros-trade-yusei-kikuchi-bio-stats-scouting-19605420.php

12

Good video about the tweaks the Astros have made so far with Kikuchi, plus a couple other guys who moved at the deadline. Doesn’t always work, but acquiring a guy and telling him “stop throwing the shit they hit” can make his old team look silly for not doing it sooner.

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13

Charlie Morton comes to mind there.

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14

What the Astros do seems pretty simple on the surface, “stop throwing bad pitches dumb dumb”

But I think the biggest reason the Astros are able to make it work is the track record they have. They can point to a bunch of different guys and say “wanna be like that guy? Listen to us”

The Rays and Brewers are probably the only two teams with as much gravitas as the Astros. Pitchers trust what they are being told and pitch with confidence.

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15

Dodgers maybe? But you’re right, Stros have the track record to entice players to listen to them.

I hope he and his wife like Houston.

16

Let’s not forget that JV actually started pitching differently upon his arrival.

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17

I feel like the Dodgers, Yankees and Guardians would be in that second tier. But that’s just my opinion, players may feel differently

Dodgers are top tier with hitters, I’m not sure any other team is on their level there. I guess maybe the Rays?

Edit - Braves are probably top tier with the Dodgers when it comes to hitters.

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18

The Astros must be in the top tier as well. Just look at what they’ve done to rein in Altuve’s free-swinging.