Blue Jays most valuable trade piece at deadline

Yusei Kikuchi pitching way into “most coveted” conversation

All of a sudden, following Tuesday’s dominant, no-walk, 13-strikeout performance vs. the Giants at Oracle Park, Blue Jays lefthander Yusei Kikuchi, after years of being under the radar, has pitched his way into the conversation not just as most desirable lefthander, but as one of the most coveted pieces of any position at the trade deadline, which arrives on July 30.     

The key to Kikuchi’s peaking popularity is the number of contending teams that would see the resurgent 33-year-old as capable of being their 3^rd or 4^th starter late into October. Kikuchi seems to qualify in that regard for 11 currently contending teams. Battle it out.

We will exclude the Yankees and Red Sox from that list of Yusei suitors, because they are in the same division as the Jays and are intensely disliked, but we include the O’s because their farm system is so stacked that they could offer pieces that could help in 2025 and beyond…maybe even a developing starting pitcher for the final two months of a lost Jays summer.

Kikuchi has emerged as one of the Top 3 lefthanded starters on the market with Garret Crochet of the White Sox and Tyler Anderson of the Angels.

In 19 starts, armed with a 97-mph fastball, a wipeout slider, a curve and a change, Kikuchi has a 4-8 record, with a 4.00 ERA. A caveat is that there are four contra-performance starts that render his numbers deceptive. On May 26, June 1, plus June 17-23, he allowed 19 earned runs in 14.1 innings. Minus those starts, Kikuchi’s ERA is 2.69 in 15 starts, aided by the thumbs-up decision with pitching coach Pete Walker to cut back on between-starts bullpens.

In making any Kikuchi deal, the acquiring team, if completed at the deadline, would be responsible for just $3.25-million of the $10M in the final year before free agency. and would receive up to 14 starts, plus playoffs. The issue would then be for the Jays to find someone to fill 14 starts down the stretch, that would definitely help prevent the final two months from becoming a death spiral of losses that would surely hamper Mark Shapiro and his GM from selling the team to the fanbase and attracting helpful free agents in the off season.

The list of teams that, on the surface, should be interested in the hard-throwing lefthander as a third or fourth starter come playoff time, includes: the Astros, Orioles, Mets, Guardians, Twins, Brewers, Giants, Padres and Cardinals.

The Jays, if interested, could then try this winter to bring Kikuchi back as a free agent. He and his family love Toronto and the whole Canadian experience.

But, it’s not just Kikuchi that will be sparking trader interest over the next 20 days. Others that will likely initiate GM to GM conversation, prior to July 30, include the expiring contracts leading to free-agency of RH Yimi Garcia, RH Trevor Richards, C Danny Jansen, DH Justin Turner and CF Kevin Kiermaier. Others with only one more year of club control before free-agency, include SS Bo Bichette, RH Chris Bassitt, RH Chad Green, IF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, LH Genesis Cabrera, RH Jordan Romano and RH Erik Swanson.  

I refuse to include Vlad Guerrero Jr. in that group of trade pieces, those with control through 2025, because I still believe Vlad needs to be the cornerstone of the franchise moving forward and needs to sign a long-term deal. Doubt it? Consider that in their respective age-25 seasons that Vlad’s number far outshine those of Aaron Judge. Too much has been expected of the uber-talented man-child and Guerrero Jr. still has time to become the player the baseball world thought he would be.