 He had surgery on his right elbow in , and was traded to the Orix BlueWave in in exchange for Takahito Nomura (who would also play in the majors later in his career).Kida made 16 saves that year.In 1999, he signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent, but was demoted to the minors, and he returned to the BlueWave in June, 2000.