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Jack Flaherty and Yusei Kikuchi were two of the top pitchers to be dealt at the trade deadline. With both arms going from non-contenders to top clubs, both deals received a considerable amount of scrutiny.
However, in a recent media appearance, one MLB analyst believes that the Blue Jays, who dealt Kikuchi, got a far better deal for dealing their pitcher than did the Tigers for trading Jack Flaherty. As MLB analyst Jim Bowden claimed on CBS Sports on Wednesday morning:
"Blue Jays got more for Yusei Kikuchi than the Tigers got for Jack Flaherty - that's almost incomprehensible" - Jim Bowden to CBS Sports
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Yusei Kikuchi, a former All-Star, has been having a rough season for the Toronto Blue Jays. At the time of his trade to Houston, the 33-year-old was 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA. In exchange, the Jays received some top prospects.
At the same time, the Detroit Tigers dealt Flaherty to the Dodgers, one of the MLB's top teams, and received comparatively little in return. The Dodgers sent two prospects, Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney, who were ranked as the team's 8th and 22nd prospects, respectively.
Flaherty has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. In eighteen starts for the Tigers, the 28-year-old is 7-5 with a 2.95 ERA. Now sporting the lowest WHIP of his career, Flaherty's numbers have been compared to his 2019 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, when he finished fourth in Cy Young voting.
"I think [Yusei Kikuchi] separates himself from some of the guys in this market. He has stuff." - MLB Now
Meanwhile, the price that the Astros paid for Kikuchi is thought to be significantly higher. Loperfido has already played in 38 games for the Astros this season, hitting .236 with 2 home runs and 16 RBIs. Moreover, the other two players involved in the deal, Jake Bloss and Will Wagner, are ranked 9th and 13th, respectively, on Houston's top prospects list.
Blue Jays win with Yusei Kikuchi trade
On account of their 50-58 record, the Jays know that the postseason is not in the cards this year. As such, trading for the future appears to be the best option. Manager John Schneider claimed about acquiring the youthful talent from Houston:
"Loperfido is a dude we’ve seen recently and he’s got a really, really bright future. Bloss, you can pencil him into what we’re doing going forward and we’ll take another bloodline guy in Wagner. I really like what we did and it shows we’re going to get after it next year.”
Seeing as though Yusei Kikuchi is set to become a free agent in the winter anyway, it certainly looks like this was one of the few times in 2024 that the Jays came out on top.
