The Angels are dipping into the free agent pitching market in a way they haven’t in years.
The Angels have agreed to a three-year, $63 million contract with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, a source confirmed on Monday.
It would be the largest Angels contract for a free agent starting pitcher since they signed C.J. Wilson to a $77.5 million deal in December 2011. It would be the largest free agent contract general manager Perry Minasian has given any player in his four years on the job, surpassing left-hander Tyler Anderson’s $39-million deal.
The Angels have not yet announced the deal, which was first reported by the New York Post. Kikuchi will need a physical, which may be delayed because of the holiday week, and then the Angels will need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Kikuchi now joins a rotation depth chart that gives the Angels several options heading into the season. Kikuchi will be in a rotation with the Anderson and right-handers Jose Soriano and Kyle Hendricks. (Hendricks, a 34-year-old who signed a one-year, $2.5-million deal, likely has the shortest leash of those four.) The top candidates to round out the rotation would be left-hander Reid Detmers and right-handers Jack Kochanowicz and Chase Silseth. They also have right-handers Caden Dana and Sam Bachman and left-hander Sam Aldegheri.
The question now is whether the Angels are getting the Kikuchi who had a 4.75 ERA in his first 22 starts with the Toronto Blue Jays last season, or the one who had a 2.70 ERA in his final 10 starts after a trade to the Houston Astros.
His $21 million annual salary would suggest the Angels expect he’ll be closer to the latter version. There was a tangible difference in the way he pitched after the trade, which gives the Angels some reason to believe that the 33-year-old can sustain the improvement.
With the Astros, Kikuchi increased his slider usage from 11% to 37%, cutting his curve ball from 23% to 10%.
He replaced the rest of the curve balls with more of his fastball, which averages 95 mph. The Astros, however, had Kikuchi throw his fastball up the zone more. He got a 30% whiff rate on his fastball after the trade, compared with 27% before the trade. Opponents hit .225 on his fastball with the Astros, and .297 with the Blue Jays.
Kikuchi has a career 4.57 ERA in six big league seasons, the first three with the Seattle Mariners and the next three with the Blue Jays, until the July trade. He was an All-Star in 2021.
Previously, Kikuchi had a 2.77 ERA in eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Kikuchi attended the same high school in Japan as Shohei Ohtani, although he is three years older.
The Kikuchi deal continues a busy first month of the offseason for MInasian, who has a directive from owner Arte Moreno to make the Angels contenders after last season’s franchise-record 99 losses.
So far, Minasian made a trade to pick up designated hitter Jorge Soler and his $13-million annual salary. He signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud (two years, $12 million) and utility infielder Kevin Newman (one year, $2.75), in addition to Hendricks. The Angels also traded for infielder Scott Kingery and picked up first baseman Ryan Noda on waivers.
None of those players — not even Kikuchi — are marquee names, but the idea seems to be trying to raise the floor and create fewer holes to be filled by the young players, making for more competition for those spots. The Angels are also expecting players like Hendricks and d’Arnaud to have a positive influence on those young players, raising their performance.
With the Kikuchi deal, the Angels’ payroll is up to about $190 million, according to Roster Resource. For purposes of the luxury tax, which begins at $241 million, the Angels are around $207 million.
Moreno said last month the Angels would increase their payroll from 2024, but not get to the level of 2023, when they were barely under the $233 million luxury tax threshold.