Angels ace continues habit of criticizing organization even after season ends

During Yusei Kikuchi's final start of the 2025 season, all eyes were on Ray Montgomery and whether he would prematurely remove the team's ace in a second straight outing. Kikuchi was removed from his penultimate start against the Milwaukee Brewers when the Angels actually had a lead over the team with the best record in baseball, and expressed his frustration towards the Angels over a perceived lack of trust. Now, the Angels would push back on that notion as they were clearly just trying to protect their high-priced, veteran asset from a potential injury during a lost season. Either way, Kikuchi felt strongly enough that he should not have been lifted by voicing his concerns to the press.

Well, Kikuchi continued to criticize the Angels organization after the season ended in what is yet another awful look for the entire franchise. Kikuchi left early from his final start and claimed he had a minor issue with his finger, and the final diagnosis was finally explained by the man himself.

Angels ace continues habit of criticizing organization even after season ends

Apparently Kikuchi felt cramping in his finger that was severe enough that he needed to depart the game. Kikuchi blamed the finger cramps on the Angels, as he pointed to the team weight room not having air conditioning.

Players activate their bodies in the weight room before moving to on-field activities, and Kikuchi claims he perpetually would leave the weight room drenched in sweat because of the lack of air conditioning. The Angels ace, who is in the first year of a three-year contract, claimed that he asked the team to fix the issue but they did nothing of the sort.

One of the major reasons the Los Angeles Angels are not a free agency destination is that they subject their players to second-rate facilities -- be it in spring training or the regular season. Kikuchi telling the media this story of the lack of AC will do the Angels no favor in trying to woo free agents. However, players already know about the state of Angels Stadium as players communicate this kind of stuff to each other anyway.

Kikuchi signed with the Angels because he wants to see this organization succeed, so nobody should blame him for using his platform to criticize the Angels for their cheap methods of running a ball club. The Angels handicap themselves in so many ways, and their lack of AC is yet another example of this. The knock on the Angels is that they are a big market team that operates like a mid-small market team like the Tampa Bay Rays. This story of a lack of AC is an egregious example of this, and fans should be irate.

Sell the team, Arte. If this is actually true, this is awful. Just awful.