Astros fans livid over trade with Blue Jays for Kikuchi

Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports

After plenty of speculation, the Toronto Blue Jays shipped Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros ahead of this evening’s trade deadline.

Coming the other way in the deal is pitcher Jake Bloss, outfielder Joey Loperfido, and second baseman Will Wagner. Bloss and Loperfido are two of the top prospects in the Astros organization, while Kikuchi has struggled to a 4.75 ERA through 22 games this season. To little surprise, Blue Jays fans are ecstatic about the deal, while reactions from Astros fans have been polar opposite.

These two men made the worst trade in Houston Sports history! Crane just sell the team pic.twitter.com/GlTboNI5z2

— Lane Fluker (@fluker_lane) July 30, 2024

Losing Loperfido hurts, regardless of how well Kikuchi pitches. Including him is just a disastrous blunder

— P 4 D🔥 (@picks4dayzzz) July 30, 2024

Embarrassing

— Turtle 🏆🏆 (@TickingTurtle) July 30, 2024

I could maybe have understood this if it had been Flaherty. But not this. Absolutely abysmal trade.

— Andrew Bacon (@therealtorbacon) July 30, 2024

Worst trade ever!! I’ve been an @astros fan my whole life and wow!! @tmilrealdeal

— Kindr3d Sauce Co. 🌶🔥🌶 (@Kindr3dNations) July 30, 2024

I think… we all think the trade was a nice idea. But – not pointin’ any fingers – it coulda been done better. So, how ’bout, no trade this time. But next time let’s do some research first?

— Mazzy Barnett (@BarnettMazzy) July 30, 2024

Atrociously bad trade. Have a strong feeling you’ll be looking back on this one pretty negatively

— Owen Hurd (@Owen_FBB) July 30, 2024

I’m still not over losing Loperfido. If we don’t win the World Series then Dana needs to be fired.

— Dylan Johnson △⃒⃘ (@TheBlackTicTac) July 30, 2024

Awful.

— Matt Hamlin (@MattHamlinTX) July 30, 2024

Fire Dana Brown!!!!

— Michael (@space_ace84) July 30, 2024

In defence of Kikuchi, he is a better pitcher than the level he’s performed this season. In fact, he had a solid beginning to the 2024 season, but stumbled to a 6.87 ERA over his last 12 starts which has put a huge damper on his overall numbers. The season prior, the 33-year-old posted a 3.86 ERA in 32 starts.

Though he will have a ton of pressure on him, this is a good situation for Kikuchi to be a part of. The Astros, while not an elite team this season, sit atop the AL West division with a 55-51 record. They’ll look for Kikuchi to help shore up their pitching to ensure they can compete for a World Series championship this October.

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