Black Friday was a bigger day for the Jays then one may think, as J.A. Happ agreed to terms with Toronto. The deal is 3 years long worth a total of $36 million, as Happ will be penciled into the 3 spot of the Jays starting rotation. He may not be the lefty the Jays only could dream about (David Price), but he will certainly get the job done. With free agent, Mark Buerhle, still undecided on retirement, the Jays made a bold move in signing arguably the next best lefty on the market instead of waiting for the ex-Jay to make up his mind. This will be J.A. Happ’s second stint with the Jays in his career, as the lefty was in Toronto from late 2012-2014. The value of pitchers may be continuing to grow, but is Happ worth the $12 million a year?
With a 93 MPH fastball and cutter being his main pitches, Happ has more of the motions of a power pitcher, which will be beneficial in the Rogers Centre. After compiling a record of 12-4 and leading the NL in shutouts, while finishing 2nd in the ROTY race in 2009, it was downhill from 2010-2014. Injuries held the lefty under 100 innings in 2010 and 2013, while the other years were not that exceptional, compiling a record of 27-37. However, through the years, Happ has showed great upside, but it wasn’t until 2015 that he came into his own for a full season once again. Thankfully for Happ, it was the season before he hit the market for his first time in his career. What might have been the major drive for the Jays to sign the lefty, was J.A.’s performance in the second half after getting traded to the Buckos.
In 63 innings pitched for the Pirates, Happ struck out 69 batters, while holding them to a batting average of .221. He finished with a record of 7-2 with a 1.85 ERA, while wearing a Pittsburgh uniform. Yes, it was a small sample size, but the numbers were through the roof, as he had an ERA+ of 202 with the Buckos (league average was 101). However, even with his stats factored in from being a Mariner in the first half, Happ certainly deserved the contract he got. In full of his 170+ innings pitched this past season, he allowed less than 70 earned runs, only 16 homers, and walked just 45 batters. With the ridiculous sum of money pitchers are being paid now, a solid #3 guy, like Happ, comes at the price of $12 million a year. Yes, it would have been great for Toronto to have a return of David Price, but why spend $181 million more to up the chances just a bit for winning the World Series?
