One of the names most consistently linked to the Minnesota Twins ahead of this year’s trade deadline was Yusei Kikuchi, and the team nearly landed him in a deal.
The Twins were shopping for starting pitching help to solidify the rotation, and Kikuchi had long been identified as someone who fit the mold. He’s put together a solid season for a bad Blue Jays team, and was in the final year of his contract.
Minnesota was looking for expiring contracts, and Kikuchi was arguably the best and most realistic target the team had on its radar. As it turns out, there was indeed fire behind all of the smoke and the Twins had nearly reached the finish line of a trade when the Houston Astros came busting in like the Kool-Aid Man.
Twins almost acquired Yusei Kikuchi before Astros swooped in with a better offer
The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported that the Twins were in ‘serious discussions’ with the Blue Jays to acquire Kikuchi but the Astros blew it up with their Godfather offer. It was a massive overpay, but one that ended any hope Minnesota had of adding Kikuchi before the deadline.
Per Hayes:
Team sources said the Twins were in serious discussions with the Toronto Blue Jays about Kikuchi when Houston blew their offer out of the water late Monday, leaving team officials to mirror some in the industry who believed the Astros paid a significant premium.
Once Houston went nuclear with its offer — which included a package of three Major League-ready top prospects — it was all over for the Twins and rightfully so. The Astros might have gotten their guy, but the cost of doing business has made them the butt of some jokes and the end of almost nobody this side of the San Diego Padres (who also gave up a haul at the deadline).
Minnesota had another boring trade deadline, but there’s at least some solace in knowing the team didn’t get goaded into overpaying just to make a deal. Kikuchi would have been nice — as would anything more than just one trade — but giving up a guy like Zebby Matthews or Brooks Lee to make it happen would have been disastrous.
At the very least it’s nice to know the Twins front office at least tried to make something happen, even if the optics of how things played out still don’t look great.
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