Very intriguing Houston Astros pitching prospect Jake Bloss, who’d been pressed into rotation services in Houston by injuries, was scratched earlier this evening which obviously sets off alarm bells.
Sure enough, it’s a trade, and it’s the Astros getting a different starting pitcher, as they’ve been seeking:
Kikuchi, 33, has been pretty bad by the results this year (119 ERA-), but pretty good by the peripherals (87 FIP-), so clearly the Astros are paying a heavy price for the anticipated positive regression. Except the thing is that Kikuchi has kinda done that several times already in his career, and it may just be that he gets a lot of strikeouts, doesn’t give up a lot of walks, but does sometimes get hammered.
Kikuchi is making $10 million dollars this season in the final year of the deal he signed with the Blue Jays. So he’s a true rental. Seems like the Blue Jays made out well, even before you consider anything else in the trade besides Bloss. Must be nice for them.
UPDATE: Good lord. Massive return, relatively speaking:
That’s basically all the Astros had to give, given their depleted far system. For a rental starter with good peripherals and soft results. Yeesh.