The New York Yankees have finally acquired J.A. Happ, but they sort of got fleeced by Toronto in the process.
One of the biggest names at the deadline was J.A. Happ, the Toronto Blue Jays expendable star pitcher. Star is a flexible term, as Happ feels like a Sydney Ponson-type; a guy who is having a good season and is a hot commodity at the deadline for the right contender.
He wasn’t doing the Blue Jays any good, and was an easy piece to pawn off and collect a nest egg for the future. The question always was how much the Jays could get back for their starter and would it match their idea of his value?
It turns out his value was an equally expendable piece: Brandon Drury.
A narrative this deadline season was how the Yankees needed a starting pitcher to help mend their broken rotation. Happ seemed to always be that guy, and to get him they didn’t need to give up any of the young core that has put the team in a situation to be dominant again. Instead, the Yankees traded Brandon Drury, who was a piece that looked like he could be a key member of the core but ended up being pushed to the side, even though that didn’t have anything to do with poor play. The Yankees simply didn’t need him thanks to Miguel Andujar becoming a thing.
So, essentially, this trade was two teams swapping superfluous pieces that fit better with the team acquiring them. But who actually won the trade (there’s only one winner)?
Here is what the trade looked like on Thursday afternoon:
New York Yankees
J.A. Happ is a great pitcher and fills a massive need for the Yankees as they pursue the franchise’s 28th World Series title. This grade is less about him and more about what the Yankees maybe could have gotten for the package they gave up.
Brandon Drury was superfluous after Miguel Andujar took his job away from him, but he’s still a top infielder. He has a controllable contract and will immediately start for whoever acquired him. This is to say, fans will wonder if Happ was the best possible return for a deal involving what amounted the Yankees best trade chip outside of a member of the young core.
Of course, this is to assume Brian Cashman didn’t call up the Mets or Twins about Jacob deGrom or Jose Berrios and offer a package including Drury. Those two pitchers were guys Yankees fans were starting to fetishize acquiring, even if a deal with Drury wasn’t enough to get it done.
At the end of the day, this was like cashing in a coupon for New York. They brought back a gift they didn’t need and exchanged it for something they wanted, and if that results in a World Series than no one is going to second guess this. But it’s New York, which means this deal won’t get away without some criticism regardless of what happens in the long run.
Grade: B-
Toronto Blue Jays
There’s denying that Happ wasn’t going to help the Blue Jays this year, and he was always going to be a deadline chip. The question was whether or not Toronto would get fair value, which is debatable.
Lowering their asking price on Happ seemed to be the trick, as things picked up quickly after that happened. Of course, that comes with the caveat of Toronto lowering the price but this deal will be about what they ended up with and not grand illusions of what they maybe could have gotten.
That being said, this is a pretty damn good deal for the Blue Jays. Brandon Drury was going to be the starting third baseman for New York until Miguel Andujar came out of nowhere to take the job. Drury, who has three more years of club control, will now fill the spot of Josh Donaldson, who will either be traded or leave in free agency. When New York acquired him it was a big deal, so go back and look at what people were saying about him then to get an idea of how good this deal is for Toronto.
Just getting Drury alone would have been a haul for the Jays, who traded a 35-year-old expiring contract for a 25-year-old corner infielder they can build around. Tossing in McKinney, who isn’t a Top 100 prospect but has been putting together a solid year at Triple-A, is icing on an already delicious cake.
Grade: A-