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J.A. Happ could be more than a rental for Yankees

By Rucker Haringey

ST PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 13: J.A. Happ #33 of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 13, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. The Rays won 1-0. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 13: J.A. Happ #33 of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 13, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. The Rays won 1-0. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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The Yankees are hesitant to give up too much in a trade for a rental pitcher. J.A. Happy could be more than that for Aaron Boone’s club.

The news that the Yankees and Mariners are both interested in dealing for Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ didn’t inspire a ton of excitement amongst the Yankees fan base. Understandably, many people don’t want to see the team give up too much for a rental. The reality is J.A. Happ can be more than that for the Yankees.

It’s true the 35-year-old is in the last year of his deal with Toronto, but there’s no reason to think the Yankees wouldn’t be in a position to re-sign him after the season. That wouldn’t be a given, but you’d have to believe Happ would be excited about the idea of pitching for a contender to close out his career.

The Yankees are more mindful of their payroll then they have been in years past, but fitting Happ’s new salary in wouldn’t be a significant challenge. The key for Brian Cashman and company would be to make sure they didn’t overcommit to Happ in terms of years. A three-year deal for $12 to $15 million per season should be enough to get it done.

Happ could be the perfect short-term bridge for C.C. Sabathia’s spot in the rotation. New York would like to replace Sabathia with another lefty. Happ would give them another tall southpaw, although admittedly he’s over 100 pounds lighter than Sabathia.

Despite his advanced age, Happ hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. His current ERA of 3.41 isn’t that much different than his mark of 3.76 last season. The fact that he’s still averaging over a strikeout per inning also shows he still has good stuff. Happ has 94 K’s in just 82.2 innings pitched on the campaign.

Even if Happ experiences some gradual decline over his next several seasons, it’s still a solid bet that he’ll remain a league average starter or above. Given the current state of the Yankees rotation that would easily allow him to slot into Boone’s starting five. In the unlikely event that New York acquired enough starting pitching to force him out of the rotation, he’d still be an easy player to trade for prospects.

Next: 5 starting pitchers the Yankees can target via trade

Brian Cashman shouldn’t give up too much to acquire J.A. Happ, but the Yankees can’t think of him as an automatic rental. Even at 35-years-old it’s very likely New York could get another couple of quality seasons from the talented lefty.

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