Blue Jays sign J.A. Happ 3-years $36M

[Followthelight]

@ShiDavidi: With JA Happ, #BlueJays now at roughly $130m for 2016 if they tender all 10 arb-eligible players. Factor in 0-3 guys and not much $ left.

 

Ugh friggin gross, we had our chance in 2015, we are not winning in 2016, again they cheap out on pitching.

[gbill2004]

@jonmorosi: Happ's agent Jay Fee: "While several teams expressed interest, the Blue Jays (were) determined from the outset of free agency ... "

 

@jonmorosi: Jay Fee on Happ continued: " . . . and demonstrated a solid commitment early in the process which JA appreciated."

 

@jonmorosi: Fee: "He'll (return) to familiar management, teammates and a fan base who wants to see the club build on all the success of last season."

[Atothe]

So you have faith that Happ's next 3 seasons will mirror his 2015 one? Curious.

 

No one should expect. If he is that guy then this deal is highway robbery

[Angrioter]

Happ, welcome to .............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9EudaEHTpo

[Followthelight]

Is this supposed to be a shot? The Red Sox will head into the season with a much better team than the Jays and with a much better farm system.

 

Congrats on off season champs I guess? Worked well last year.

[Maahfaace]

This rotation sux

[Maahfaace]

Very dissapointed in Shapiro. Ima drink till my liver hurts

[glory]

And that's quite frankly the dumbest thing they can do with the offence that they have. It's absolutely stupid to waste those years to bide time for cheap pitching. Sign aces, draft your cheap pitching then.

 

Price will cost over $200M/7 years. It wasn't going to happen, nor would it have been a smart investment.

[Abomination]

At least one thing interesting about Happ is that he's been gaining velocity throughout most of his career (much like Lee). He probably isn't a guy who will lose a lot of stuff over the next few years.

[RealAccountant]

Maybe Dickey will be traded soon

[xposbrad]

Well at the beginning of the offseason, we thought maybe Price/Shark/Zimmerman, instead, we got Chavez and Happ..I bet you all didn't see that one coming!

[RealAccountant]

Price will cost over $200M/7 years. It wasn't going to happen, nor would it have been a smart investment.

 

Yeah so winning is not going to happen

[Captain Adama]

I still don't understand. What was the purpose of this if they traded for Chavez and signed Estrada. They are just adding quantity now, not quality. 3/36 for Happ? There's no way anyone can like that. The bottom of the rotation is solid, that's about it lol ..It seems like a huge waste tying up 12m into that slot in the rotation. They needed a #2 not another #4..

 

JA friggin happ @ 36m hahaha, that's way too funny. I miss AA

 

The biggest problem with AA's regime was that he lacked quantity, so when guys got hurt, you're giving 75+ IP a year to horeshit pitching. At least now there's a ton of depth getting acquired so when injuries come, the rotation won't be hit as hard.

[SexyNewForum]

Last year worked out really well for the Red Sox after all that money spent.

 

Ew. I don't hate happ but I hate this move for the team we have.

We needed an ace or number two, not another back ender.

Our window is small, I don't like how our FO and others on the board aren't realizing this. Well it's mainly bts actually. No worries though we know he's just a wagon hopper and a troll who will go to the grave holding onto his rookie cards.

 

I'm also really confused how cheap Rogers are being. Considering the ridiculous spike in viewership and sales last year, seems like perfect opportunity to invest and announce themselves as dedicated to the team. Give themselves a good guy image and a great report with fans. We can all look up the salaries nowadays and see how they are spending the same 140 as last year.

[Followthelight]

Very dissapointed in Shapiro. Ima drink till my liver hurts

 

Ya gonna get drunk and get punched in MAAHFACE..see what I did there? Yeah very disappointing, with the right moves this would be a WS favourite. Will be lucky to win a Wildcard at this point.

[KingKat]

There's a lot to be said for having a full rotation in place when it's still November. Doesn't mean that you can't pursue other opportunities but at least it means that you don't get caught with your pants down at the end of the off-season (which has happened to the Jays more than once). The fact that Happ has pitched here before probably made him more willing to sign early with the Jays and there's probably some wisdom in capitalizing on that. His floor is J.A. Happ, his ceiling is J.A. Happ Pittsburgh version. That's not a bad guy to sign especially with no compensation involved. Not sexy but not unsound. Will be interesting to see what the rest of the off-season brings. I expect we'll see better depth 1 through 25 and 26 through 40 than we saw under AA.

[reedjohnsonfan]

Doubt they go with the current rotation. Anyone else think Dickey is getting dealt? I mean they basically have a good #2 young pitcher and 4 veteran #4's, not bad but hopefully they can do a bit better.

[Captain Adama]

Well at the beginning of the offseason, we thought maybe Price/Shark/Zimmerman, instead, we got Chavez and Happ..I bet you all didn't see that one coming!

 

If you thought Price was coming back you're delusional.

[BTS]

Well at the beginning of the offseason, we thought maybe Price/Shark/Zimmerman, instead, we got Chavez and Happ..I bet you all didn't see that one coming!

 

Anyone who expected a major pitching signing has paid no attention to the way Shapiro does things. I'm sure they touched base on Kuma and Lackey, received no mutual interest, then moved to plans C,D, and E.

[GD]

Under AA's 4 deep rotations:

 

"Needs more depth! Too fragile! Can't have shitbags like Laffey in there!"

 

Shapiro's deep rotation:

 

"Needs an ace! Should have spent a few hundred million more on Price!"

 

people don't like being happy

[Atothe]

Doubt they go with the current rotation. Anyone else think Dickey is getting dealt? I mean they basically have a good #2 young pitcher and 4 veteran #4's, not bad but hopefully they can do a bit better.

 

Dickey is valuable. 200 innings of that knuckleball effect goes a long way for 10 million.

[Atothe]

Anyone who expected a major pitching signing has paid no attention to the way Shapiro does things. I'm sure they touched base on Kuma and Lackey, received no mutual interest, then moved to plans C,D, and E.

 

Lackey said he prefers the N.L.

[KingKat]

Doubt they go with the current rotation. Anyone else think Dickey is getting dealt? I mean they basically have a good #2 young pitcher and 4 veteran #4's, not bad but hopefully they can do a bit better.

 

Dealing Dickey would really simplify the roster construction. Not having to decide between potentially hurting Russel's production by having him catch Dickey or finding a new caddy would be really nice. I'd love this if the right deal is out there but the teams that need a guy like Dickey are teams just like the Jays.

[xposbrad]

If you thought Price was coming back you're delusional.

 

I'm delusional to think this team wants to sign one of the top pitchers in the FA market that we traded one of our top prospects for last season? Price has and will be one of the top pitchers in baseball for years to come, and please don't tell me this team didn't have enough money. Rogers can see what a competitive team does to attendance.

[Orgfiller]

So you have faith that Happ's next 3 seasons will mirror his 2015 one? Curious.

 

I gave you the projection for his next season...

[BTS]

Under AA's 4 deep rotations:

 

"Needs more depth! Too fragile! Can't have shitbags like Laffey in there!"

 

Shapiro's deep rotation:

 

"Needs an ace! Should have spent a few hundred million more on Price!"

 

people don't like being happy

 

The current rotation is a 3+ win guy, four league average guys, and a 6th starter who could be anywhere from 1-3 wins without surprising anyone. All of this with no contracts longer than three years, no picks given up, and only Hendriks shipped out. This rotation isn't even bad.

[reedjohnsonfan]

Dickey is valuable. 200 innings of that knuckleball effect goes a long way for 10 million.

 

That's the whole point. He is a nice piece and other teams would want him. I'm not going to suggest trading Goins for a solid player lol.

[intentional wok]

I'm satisfied with the rotation less than a month into the off-season. It's five-strong with a solid sixth guy no matter how the workload gets divided (Hutch or Chavez becoming a swing man, for instance). Even if nothing else happens w/r/t pitching, we'll at least see guys who can throw a solid outing every turn. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it's a good foundation to move forward with, especially considering the wrecking ball offense.

 

Could be better, could be a lot worse. Solidifying a foundation shouldn't be poo-pooed, though. If we go five more months with nothing doing then some criticism is probably warranted. But as of now, there's not a whole lot to dislike.

[gbill2004]

Happ could be the under the radar #2 starter we needed. Who knows how Zimmerman could have performed in the AL...could have been worse than Happ.

[gbill2004]

Price's agent can't use the Jays as leverage anymore.