Yeah, he's had a bad July, that's why his price came down. Hopefully, Larry Rothschild can right the ship, and since he's on an expiring contract, it frees up two more spots on the 40-man to protect guys from November's rule 5 draft.
1) As stated in an earlier post, the Yankees have more desirable prospects than they can save when all 32 teams can cherry pick unprotected guys from the 40 man roster of any other MLB team in the Rule 5 Draft held during the off season. McKinney along with Dillon Tate, Josh Rogers and Cody Carroll stood a good chance of not getting protected and being plucked for zero in return. So Cashman has turned potentially no return into rentals RP Zach Britton and SP J.A. Happ. If either or both turn out to pitch well, Yanks will become a favorite to resign.
2) Brandon Drury is a decent, but not great, infielder; 13 HR in 135 games last year and 16 HR in 134 games the year before that .267 BA and .755 OPS lifetime. OF Billy McKinney looked good in spring training but is in a farm system with many decent outfield prospects. It’s a good pick-up for the Blue Jays and good pick up for the Yankees
3) J.A. Happ is a 12-year veteran; 2018 All Star game player ; finished 6th (with some 1st place votes) for the 2016 Cy Young Award; has pitched 10 post season games with a 1-1 record 3.72 ERA and struck out 19 in 19.1 IP. Has he been terrible in July? Yes. 13 ER in 8.1 IP followed by his two latest stints where he surrendered 1 ER in 8.2 IP. In the month of June, 3-0; 3.16 ERA; 0.96 WHIP in 31.1 IP and 27 K. In May 3-2; 4.25 ERA in 29.2 IP and 29 K and in April 4-0; 3.45 ERA in 31.1 IP and 45 K
4) Against Boston and Houston this season:
July 12 at Boston 3.2 IP; 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K loss
June 25 at Houston 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K win
April 24 vs. Boston 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 K no decision
Over the last three season J.A. Happ is 6-2 combined against the Red Sox and Astros.
Happ could turn into a batting practice pitcher for the rest of the season. He could also turn back the clock and pitch like a gem. He is experienced and post season play won’t bother him. If he sucks for the rest of the season, you don’t have to pitch him in the playoffs.
But could he be capable of being a big game thrower? Well, yeah… he can. But I can't say which one you are going to get. Most likely a competent thrower for the rest of the season.
I feel better adding Happ to Severino, Tanaka, Sabathia and Gray. Cessa might have pitched well recently but he has been mostly bad up until now. German is an unknown quantity going forward. You don’t know if Gray has turned things around or not and there’s always 38-year old CC and his knee. So Happ is good insurance with a possible high ceiling. Consistently bad starting pitching means the wearing down of your bullpen. Happ is a guy who can take the ball every 5th day and, most of the time, pitch a game that gives you a chance to win. And on good days, he can look like that guy from two seasons ago.
Britton makes the bullpen a stone wall. Happ shores up the gaps in starting pitching.
