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The Angels have a new ace, at the moment, and he is saying all the right things during the early stages of his Angels tenure. The Yusei Kikuchi signing became official a few days after the news broke, as he needed to pass his physical examination first. After the two sides put pen to paper in America, Kikuchi went back to his home country of Japan and started talking to the media about his move to Anaheim. His comments should warm your heart, Angels fans.
The Angels' free agent signings of the not-too-distant past are comprised of players who are on the last legs of their careers simply looking to extend their time in the bigs, i.e. the Miguel Sanós, Willie Calhouns, and Aaron Hicks types of the baseball world. Kikuchi is unlike all of those guys. First and foremost, this is the largest contract figure Perry Minasian has given out since he got the GM job...but Kikuchi is a guy that truly wants to be an Angel. Kikuchi would have had a large market, as he was a completely dominant pitcher in Houston last year and was incredibly valuable for Toronto as well. Any team could have been hands-off and just let Kikuchi do his thing if they signed him. The Angels were able to capitalize early in the offseason because he admires the franchise.
Yusei Kikuchi signed with the Angels early in the offseason for a reason
Once Kikuchi got back to Japan, on November 30th, he is quoted as saying: "It was an immediate decision. The biggest reason was that I really wanted to end the 10-year streak of not appearing in the postseason." There we go! The Angels signed a player who is genuinely talented, loves the franchise, sees its potential, and wants to unlock it. What a breath of fresh air.
As George R.R. Martin always says, "words are wind." Kikuchi, and all the other additions the Angels have made, can say the right things to the media. At the end of the day, they need to show up and perform. However, his quotes should fire up the fanbase. Let's light that baby up, Yusei.