Yusei KIkuchi’s market is heating up as four teams reportedly have interest in the Blue Jays’ lefty
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Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Georges
Jul 29, 2024, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 29, 2024, 14:54 EDT
After trading catcher Danny Jansen and relief pitchers Yimi Garcia and Nate Pearson over the weekend, it remains to be seen how many other pieces the Toronto Blue Jays will move before Tuesday’s deadline.
The Blue Jays have already acquired a number of promising prospects from the three deals, with five of them now appearing on the club’s top 30 prospect list. Perhaps the most exciting return was outfielder Jonatan Clase, acquired from the Mariners in the Garcia trade. He finds himself ranked seventh on the team’s prospect list, and seems poised to earn significant playing time in Toronto over the last two months of the season.
One player that seems to be the next in line to be moved is starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.
Morosi doesn’t mention a frontrunner for the Japanese lefthander, but the mere fact that four teams are interested shows that he is very likely to be moved.
It’s clear from the moves that the Jays have already made that this is a strong sellers’ trade market this year. Ever since the expansion of the playoff format in 2022, more and more teams have been flirting with contention. After seeing the Arizona Diamondbacks make the World Series after an 84-78 regular season record last year, teams on the fringe of the playoffs may be motivated to simply try to find a way to the dance. This plays perfectly into the Jays selling plans; with fewer teams completely out of the mix, there are fewer players that will be available from non-contenders.
As more deals come through over the next 24 hours, it will be interesting to see if the Jays wait for some comparable pitchers to be moved before pulling the trigger on a Kikuchi deal. Zach Elfin has already been traded to the Orioles for a trio of prospects, with the White Sox also acquiring three prospects in their three-way trade involving pitcher Erick Fedde. Both Eflin and Fedde are under contract for 2025, so the Jays would surely receive less in return for Kikuchi, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
You have to think that the Jays will be happy to get whatever they can for Kikuchi and whoever else by this trade deadline, as they start their long road back to contention. The biggest question will be whether the team decides to move one of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette before 6:00 PM EST tomorrow. Jays fans will surely be refreshing Twitter right up until the deadline to see what the team decides to do.