Shocking news today as Mariner pitcher Yusei Kikuchi turned down $13 million and is taking a chance on himself.

It was long assumed the Mariners would turn down the four-year option on the Japanese lefty, but it was also presumed he would exercise his one-year player option.

What this does for Seattle is open some more money for them to spend. They couldn’t have expected they would have $13 million from the Kikuchi deal. He will certainly get less on the open market, at least on a per year basis.

The one downside, if you could call it that, is that there is one less starting pitcher in the Mariners arsenal. There was a time when Kikuchi was effective, and whether the league figured him out, or the crackdown on substances brought him back to where he was, the success was short lived.

Kikuchi’s struggles this year is one of the reasons Seattle fell short in the unlikely push for a playoff spot, though I do wish him success wherever he goes next.

And I’m happy he helped the Mariners free up some money. I don’t know what kind of pitcher $13 million gets you, but it should be a far sight better than Kikuchi’s inconsistencies.