Yankees Trading for J.A. Happ Is a Solid Move

On July 27, the New York Yankees traded utility player Brandon Drury and minor league outfielder Billy McKinney to the Toronto Blue Jays for starting pitcher J.A. Happ. This trade made by Yankees GM Brian Cashman is a move that makes a lot of sense for the Yankees despite the apparent disagreement from the fans.

While navigating through some of the comments on some Yankee-related Instagram pages that I follow, I couldn't help but notice the usual sense of disappointment that comes from Yankees fans whenever the team makes a trade that isn't a blockbuster. There were a lot of people pointing out that the deal was not a good move for a few reasons. One point the fans kept making was that the team got a 35 year old pitcher with three months left in his contract (basically what is called a "rental") and gave up two young players with potential. While the fans do have a point, allow me to offer a counter argument.

First, let's look at what the Yankees gave up. Brandon Drury is 25 years old and versatile as he can play third base and all outfield positions. If you take a close look at his stats in Arizona, while they might seem rather unimpressive he did manage a 1.6 WAR his last year with the Diamondbacks. When he was traded to the Yankees, I couldn't help but feel like he had the potential to have a break out year in the same way that another former Diamondback had with the Yankees: Didi Gregorius. The Yankees have been good at the getting the most out of young talent in recent years (Examples include Aaron Judge, Dellin Betances, Gregorius among others). In my opinion, the acquisition of Brandon Drury was a welcome one and I considered it a great deal by Cashman. Like the Gregorius trade in 2014, it is no easy feat to acquire a young and promising player in today's market. On top of that, the Yankees needed a third baseman after trading Chase Headley back to the Padres. In short, the Drury deal made a while lot of sense as the Yankees only gave up a minor leaguer in the process while filling a hole. Though the Yankees gave up the star potential of Brandon Drury, they found themselves in a situation where they could not get him on the field consistently and allow him to produce.

At the time of this writing, the Yankees have played 101 games of the 2018 season. Due to injuries and the hot start of Miguel Andujar, Brandon Drury has only played 18 games this season. One could argue that the main reason that the Yankees traded for Drury was so that he can be an insurance policy in case Andujar couldn't produce at the major league level. But as we have seen so far this season, Andujar has been nothing short of impressive. He was the Rookie of the Month in June and is one of the league leaders in doubles. With Andujar on the starting lineup, a full outfield and infield with Neil Walker occasionally filling in at third, Drury becomes the odd man out. Getting traded to Toronto is actually a good thing for Drury as he should definitely get more playing time with the Blue Jays.

The Yankees also gave up minor league outfielder Billy McKinley. Trading him does not really impact the Yankees in a negative way. His numbers in AAA are not impressive and the Yankees already have a full outfield (with Judge, Stanton, Gardner, and Hicks) so unless an injury occurred he wouldn't see much action in the majors. Even in the case of injury, Tyler Austin would likely be the first choice to fill in for the injured outfielder. Trading away McKinley also does not affect the future of the Yankees outfield. They have both Judge and Stanton for a few more years and the free agent market can provide some really good options in the coming years (like Bryce Harper, for example). Not to mention the Yankees still have a highly ranked prospect in Clint Frazier.

What the Yankees got in return was what they needed, a proven left-handed starter with extensive experience in the AL East. J.A. Happ's best work in his twelve-year career has been while pitching for the Blue Jays. In six seasons with them he has averaged an ERA of 3.88, a WHIP of 1.28, 691 strikeouts in 745.1 innings which translates to 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Though he has a 4.18 ERA in 2018, he has a career low WHIP of 1.18 despite the fact that he is pitching in a division that includes offensive juggernauts like the Yankees and Red Sox. He also has a career high 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings this season. J.A. Happ and may not have been the biggest name in the market this season but 2018 has been one of the best years in his career. Finally, J.A. Happ has been effective against the Yankees' biggest rival and obstacle this season, the Boston Red Sox. Happ is 7-4 with a 2.98 ERA in his career against the AL East leading Red Sox. Happ definitely has the potential to help the Yankees overtake the Red Sox for the division lead and maybe even win it.

Many fans have said that the Yankees should have aimed higher and attempt to trade for bigger names on the market like Jacob DeGrom or Chris Archer, but let's face it—while the Yankees would love to have these guys, trading for them would not have been wise. Both the Mets and Rays would have demanded top prospects in exchange for their respective top starters. Let's look at this from a historical perspective, the Yankees have not had a good farm system with multiple nationally ranked prospects probably since Jeter, Posada, and Mariano were in the minors.

Until recently, the Yankee method of acquiring players was by buying the superstars of other teams through free agency. Under this method, the Yankee farm system would suffer, and the major league team would be populated by expensive and aging stars. For the last couple of years, since the end of the "Core Four" era, fans have seen a youth movement within the Yankees. "The Baby Bombers" era is kind of like a renaissance of exciting, young homegrown players that remind us of the old days when the "Core Four" were all in their prime. The Yankees have assembled a talented core of homegrown players with Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Dellin Betances and we can even include Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird despite some of their statistical shortcomings in 2018. Let's also not forget about the front runner for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, All-Star second baseman Gleyber Torres, who has done a stellar job at second base this year. We also must recognize that it is almost a certainty that Torres would have been demanded by the Mets in exchange for Jacob DeGrom. That trade would not make sense, the Yankees should not give up on a player who has the potential to be the next Robinson Canó. In short, it is not worth trading a package of potential future stars for just one starter especially in the case of someone like Archer who so far this season has 0.5 WAR, 4.30 ERA, and a 1.38 WHIP, while Happ has superior numbers in those same categories (1.0, 4.18, and 1.28 respectively) and pitching in the same division.

To recap, J.A. Happ to the Yankees makes a lot of sense for the following: he's proven in the AL East, he does well against the Red Sox, and he gives the team another left handed starter to compliment C.C. Sabathia. This trade is a win for the Yankees, it's a win for the Blue Jays because they get Drury, and it's even a win for Drury because he'll definitely get more playing time and with it and opportunity to raise his value. It's a win-win-win deal.

Stats and transaction histories are courtesy of baseball-reference.com and ESPN.