The speedier free-agent market could work to the Yankees’ advantage as they try to lighten their financial commitments for 2020. However, they’ll have to wait a little longer to fully market J.A. Happ.
The veteran Happ, with $17 million guaranteed for next season and an attainable vesting option set for 2021, has been made available by the Yankees in the wake of signing free agent ace Gerrit Cole to a monster nine-year, $324 million contract. Cole will be formally introduced by the Yankees on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner and Jake Odorizzi (who accepted the Twins’ qualifying offer) are all off the board, leaving just two high-end starting pitchers remaining: lefties Hyun-jin Ryu, who has spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the Dodgers, and Dallas Keuchel, who pitched most recently for the Braves. The Dodgers, Angels, Blue Jays, Twins, White Sox and Padres are among the clubs interested in upgrading their starting rotations.
When Ryu and Keuchel sign — both are represented by Scott Boras, who will be at the Stadium with Cole on Wednesday — then attention will turn more fully to trade options. And Happ, whose $17 million option can be vested for 2021 if he throws 165 innings or makes 27 starts, stands as one of the more intriguing options, depending on how aggressively the Yankees choose to package him.
They could attach an intriguing young player or two to the 37-year-old in the hopes of getting another club to pay most of Happ’s salary and therefore lessen the Yankees’ luxury-tax burden, which appears the more likely path. The Yankees’ payroll currently is projected to surpass the $248 million level, the highest threshold, which includes draft penalties as well as financial ones. Or they could pay a more significant portion of Happ’s salary with the intention of getting young, interesting talent in return.
Happ, signed to a two-year, $34 million extension a year ago, pitched 161 ⅓ innings for the Yankees in 2019 and recorded a disappointing 4.91 ERA. He allowed 34 home runs, tied for the sixth-most in the game. He did, however, end the regular season with a 2.23 ERA in 32 ⅓ innings over his final six appearances, five of them starts.
With Cole joining Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Domingo German (upon return from his domestic violence suspension, the length of which has not yet been determined), Jordan Montgomery, Jonathan Loaisiga and youngsters Deivi Garcia and Mike King as options for the starting rotation, the Yankees could afford to lose Happ and still field one of the industry’s best rotations. Or, if they don’t find an offer to their liking, they can bring Happ back in the hopes of a rebound to create an even deeper group of starters.