MLB · P · Los Angeles Angels
Yusei Kikuchi
B/T L/L · 6' 0" · 210 lb · born Morioka, Japan · age 35 · played P 13 · MLB debut 2019-03-21
Last 14 days (through 2026-08-31): 2 G · 12.0 IP · 5.25 ERA · 10 SO · 1.25 WHIP
222 batters faced scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
Yusei Kikuchi is a 35-year-old left-hander from Morioka, Japan, now in the Angels' rotation. He has struck out 1,044 batters in 206 big-league games, and his last two starts produced 11 of them.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
What he’s paid
Under contractA market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of .
- 2026 salary
- $21.23M
- Tax hit
- $21.23M
- Service time
- 7 yr 0 d
- Guaranteed
- $64M
The deal 3 years $63.7M (2025–2027) — $21.2M a year on average, worked out by us rather than stated on the sheet, and not the same thing as the tax hit above
On the sheet: 3 yr/$63.675M (25-27) · agent Boras Corp. · 3 / 3 options left
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | $21.2M | Free agent |
| Tax hit | $21.2M | — |
Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Los Angeles Angels.
A second set of books
The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of . We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.
- Tax AAV
- $21.0M
- Guaranteed
- $63.0M
- Term
- 3 yrs
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | $21.0M | $21.0M |
A base salary under his own reading, and never subtracted from the cash figure above: a signing bonus lands in one and not the other, so the two disagree on most men without either being wrong. And the sheet does not mark which future seasons are GUARANTEED — a club option and a projected arbitration award are both just a number here, so read past the end of the deal as his forecast rather than as money owed.
The two sources disagree
MLB Spreadsheets has this deal at 3 yr, $63,000,000 (); Cot’s has it at 3 yr, $63,675,000 (). They are $675,000 apart on the same number of years.
We do not adjudicate. Both readings are cited and dated, and this is 19 of the 848 deals we could compare — the other 829 agree to the dollar.
The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.
Collect Yusei Kikuchi
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Yusei Kikuchi cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.
The Bureau on Yusei Kikuchi
The scouting press, in their own words
Josuar Gonzalez just took a rehabbing Yusei Kikuchi deep for his first Low-A homer. Going to be fun to see the 18-year-old challenged above the complex league. Big tools across the board for a switch hitting shortstop who will stick. https://t.co/umeSw2Bgef
Umpire favor
-3.7 net runs over 8 graded games — the zone cost the umpire more than it gave, on balance.
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →