While most Major League Baseball teams are in their typical early offseason wait-and-see mode, the Los Angeles Angels have been aggressive.
So far, the Angels have signed free-agent catcher Travis D’Arnaud, free-agent infielder Kevin Newman, and trading catcher Matt Thaiss to the Chicago Cubs.
On Monday, the Angels made another move, signing free-agent starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year deal worth $63 million.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network and the New York Post had the news first.
Yusei Kikuchi to the Angels. $63M, 3 years.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 25, 2024
Kikuchi is 34 years old and has been in MLB since 2019.
From 2011-19, he played for the Saitama Super Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. Kikuchi was named an All-Star three times in Japan and in 2017 he was the NPB’s best pitcher, leading the league in both wins and ERA.
In January of 2019, Kikuchi signed a four-year contract with the Seattle Mariners, where he spent the first three seasons of his career. After struggling to adjust to MLB from Japan in 2019 and 2020, the pitcher turned things around in 2021, going 7-9 with a 4.48 ERA and being named to his first and only MLB All-Star team.
Kikuchi opted out of his deal with Seattle after the 2021 season and signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. After a rocky 2022, Kikuchi went 11-6 with a career-best 3.86 ERA in 2023.
2024 saw Kikuchi finish ninth in AL Cy Young voting, starting the year with Toronto before being traded to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline. He went 9-10 with a 4.05 ERA and 206 strikeouts between the two teams, marking his first career 200+ strikeout season.
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