The Blue Jays have signed left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to a contract, according to MLB Network’s John Heyman. It’s a three-year, $36 million contract. (Twitter links) The deal started in advance, for Bob Nightingale of USA Todaywith Kikuchi earning a $16 million salary in 2022 and then $10 million in each of 2023 and 2024.
The kickoff was a hot commodity this offseason, with most of the leading names signed before the lockout. Now that the transaction freeze has thawed, the market is back where it left off. Two of the best free agents to stay in the market during the lockout, Clayton Kershaw and Carlos Rodon, signed on the first full day after the lockout ended. This left Kikuchi and Zach Greinke as the only healthy rookies remaining on the MLBTR top 50 free agents list. When Jace was taken by the Kikuchi, Greinke was the last survivor.
Kikuchi has been one of the hardest pitchers to rate since he moved from Japan ahead of the 2019 season. In his first MLB season, he made 32 starts for the Mariners, throwing 161 2/3 innings with a 5.46 ERA and a strikeout percentage of just 16.1%. In the shortened 2020 campaign, he made nine starts while still having a high 5.11 ERA, but has made huge strides in the strikeouts department, pushing his tally to 24.2%.
2021 has been a two-season story for Kikuchi as the first half of his season has been excellent. In early July, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about Kikuchi’s season about midway through when Kikuchi made 15 starts and was on an ERA of 3.18, a strike rate of 25.4%, a walk rate of 8.5%, and a ground ball ratio of 8.5 %. 53.8%. But things went in the opposite direction in the second half of the season as Kikuchi threw 63 2/3 innings from that point on with a 6.22 ERA, 23.3% strikeouts, 10.3% walking speed and 41.7% ground ball speed. .
As part of Kikuchi’s unusual contract structure, the Mariners had to decide at the end of the season whether to exercise a series of four one-year options worth $16.5 million each, effectively a four-year option for $66 million. expansion that will cover the 2022-25 seasons. After they declined, Kikuchi could choose to have the player for one year and cost $13 million for 2022. Although there seemed to be a chance he would accept the deal after his poor performance for a long time, he ultimately declined and tested out as a free agent. market. Now it turned out to be a wise decision, as he earned himself a new contract at the same rate, but three times longer.
Obviously, the Blue Jays were buoyed up enough by Kikuchi’s strengths to ignore his weaknesses, as they did with Robbie Ray and Steven Matz. While the two pitchers had serious shortcomings on their respective resumes, they both had great campaigns with the Jays in 2021, with Ray earning the American League’s Cy Young Award. While Ray and Matz will be wearing new uniforms this year, Kikuchi will still be joining a strong rotation. The club also added Kevin Gausman ahead of the lockout, joining Jose Berrios, Hyun Jin Ryu and Alec Manoa.
Not all.