The Blue Jays kicked off a series against the Angels this week, providing an opportunity for Toronto reporters to catch up with new Halos starter Yusei Kikuchi. The veteran left-hander tells Hazel Mae and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet that the Jays did not make him a free agent offer before he signed his three-year contract with the Angels.
Toronto traded Kikuchi to the Astros last summer. It was one of the bigger deadline rental deals, as the Astros parted with three upper level players (Jake Bloss, Will Wagner and Joey Loperfido) for a couple months of Kikuchi’s services. He was excellent down the stretch, working to a 2.70 ERA while averaging six innings per start across 10 appearances.
Kikuchi added that he wasn’t surprised that the Jays didn’t look to bring him back in free agency, noting that Bowden Francis did strong work after replacing him in the rotation. Francis was Toronto’s best pitcher in the second half, pitching to a 1.80 ERA while striking out nearly a quarter of opposing hitters. That certainly earned him a spot in the Opening Day rotation alongside Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt. The Jays still needed a fifth starter but elected to focus most of their offseason resources on rebuilding the lineup. Their only significant rotation move was a short-term investment, as they added Max Scherzer for $15.5MM on one year.
Scherzer’s recurring thumb injury sent him to the injured list after his first start in a Toronto uniform. That tested the Jays’ relatively thin rotation. Bloss, who made three big league starts with Houston before the trade, is one of the top depth arms on the 40-man roster. He has struggled to a 6.46 ERA over six appearances with Triple-A Buffalo, though, and he’s now facing an alarming health situation.
The Jays sent the 23-year-old for imaging on his elbow after his most recent appearance, relays Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. The team hasn’t provided any other specifics, but they’re skipping at least one start. Bloss last pitched on Saturday, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks across 3 1/3 innings.
Bloss’ injury comes days after the Jays signed both Spencer Turnbull and José Ureña to add some amount of veteran stability until Scherzer returns. Ureña, who’d begun the season in Triple-A with the Mets, jumped right into the fifth rotation spot. He tossed 74 pitches and worked 4 1/3 frames of two-run ball in his team debut tonight. Turnbull is much further off, as he spent the entire offseason unsigned before signing a prorated deal in the $1.27MM range. He’s on the 40-man roster but agreed to be optioned to the team’s Florida complex to get into game shape.
Manager John Schneider said this evening that Turnbull had kept his arm loose by throwing to collegiate hitters in recent weeks (via Mae). The skipper added that the optional stint can last up to 35 days before the Jays need to recall Turnbull onto the big league roster.
Facing college hitters is just another way of doing what most MLB teams do when pitchers do when rehab with the team.. not really a game, are they even swinging or just standing at the plate so he can pitch.. not really ready to pitch in games
I don’t think it was because of Francis. I think it’s because they took a chance and inexplicably gave a player who had never been good a 3 year deal and tho he was decent I think they were thinking they could turn him into a cheap high end starter. He turned into a back of the rotation guy mostly so why would they bring him back? Not when the Angels are gonna give him his third 3 year deal to be halfway decent. He’s made a lot of money and done very little. But he makes his starts. He has value.
I didn’t remember the contract, so I assumed it was one of those $10M+/1 year contracts that are popular now. I couldn’t believe it was $63M+/3. Like you said, there is value in making 32 starts every year.
But if you had 5 Kikuchi’s in your rotation, for $105M, you likely won’t be a .500 team.
Which would be a massive improvement for the 99 loss Angels. Considering the lack of organizational depth, over paying for some consistent pitching isn’t ideal but not a bad idea either.
Turnbull is not ready and needs to build up. The article said as much.
You seem to think that the OP was referring to recent Blue Jays tenure. OP is referring to the fact that Turnbull sat on market while Urena had opportunity with the Mets prior to signing/playing for Blue Jays
That’s exactly it. Not sure why my comment was deleted.
Whatever this nonsense comment is.
It’s was about how Jose urena got a chance
before turnbull which is ridiculous
NYMets was answering a comment that was deleted? Makes sense. I was referencing his comment and had no idea what it was about!
Amazing Turnbull agreed to go to AAA without whining about his toe or neck.
@warnbeeb
There’s a no whining clause in his contract ;o)
This is an unfortunate culture. I work in the trades. Guys hiding injuries to be “men” often end up on disability with their wife taking care of them because they refuse to take responsibility for their own health. They wrongly assume corporations who exist to profit have their best interest at heart.
To me, you’re being more of a man if you can stand up to authority and say, “I’m hurt. I got hurt working for you and you need to fix me,” rather than suffering quietly and fighting a losing battle because you don’t want to rock the boat.
Hey Lousy GM shapiro how are the bandaids working ?? -38 run/diff …3 games below .500
scherzer 3 innings 45 pitches 15.5m/1yr…..nice
Can Vogelbach pitch ??
I’ll never forget the absolute nuclear meltdown that Astros fans were having when Houston traded for Kikuchi… You would’ve thought Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Jose Altuve, and Nolan Ryan got traded all in one day.
I know I brought it up a few times already, but man, I couldn’t help to point out that it was just straight-up odd how Astros fans were overreacting mightily on that Kikuchi trade article lol.
@Steinbrenner2728
It’s still a little early to make a call on Liperfido and Bloss but Wagner looks like he’s on the org. filler track.
“X team didn’t make me an offer” is a comment you might hear from someone who lingered on the market or signed for less than expected. But not one of the first guys off the market on a really good contract.