JA Happ Signing: Good/Bad?

[Spanky99]

Was it a great move?...No

Was it a good move?...No

Was it a bad move?...No

 

Was it a necessary move?....YES! Therefore I voted yes.

 

and soooo much for the whining and complaining by some players of the difficulty of living in a foreign country and having to go through customs all the time.

 

It's mostly their families, not the players... both Marco and Josh have said so this past month, otherwise they love Toronto.

[KingKat]

Anybody have any numbers on the benefit of lefty-righty balance in the rotation? I suspect that it's probably not something truly important but it might make Happ (or any decent lefty) slightly more valuable to a team without any other lefty starting pitchers.

[Boxcar]

This isn't the Happ we're all remembering. Even the Happ we all remember was a decent starter who never had arm problems. This Happ put up 2.2 WAR the last 2 months of the season. This Happ has ace upside for 12 million dollars a year. This is a great signing.

 

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001111229/Kool_Aid_answer_2_xlarge.jpeg

[vilifyingforce]

This isn't the Happ we're all remembering. Even the Happ we all remember was a decent starter who never had arm problems. This Happ put up 2.2 WAR the last 2 months of the season. This Happ has ace upside for 12 million dollars a year. This is a great signing.

 

Let's not get carried away.

[wamco]

how bout the happ I remember stinking for 2/3 of the year in Seattle last year?

[Jayzfan79]

players make adjustments that can alter their career path to another level. look at guys like Edwin or Jose that changed up their batting stances and took them to another level. or even Halladay.....do we forget that he went all the way back down to A ball to redo his mechanics which turned him to the pitcher he became?

 

it is still early in the offseason and have yet to see anything but maybe Happ just needed a change to his delivery to take him to that next level.

[AdamGreenwood]

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001111229/Kool_Aid_answer_2_xlarge.jpeg

 

Best use of GIF I have witnessed on these forums.

[Laika]

It's hard to ignore the trend that JA Happ has demonstrated.

 

In 2014 he posted the best BB rate and velocity of his career.

In 2015 he improved on that BB rate to post another career mark, while adding more K's so that his K-BB% was the best of his career. He also pitched a career high in innings while largely maintaining the velocity gains from 2014, AND he even got better as the season went on. Of course, it all lead to the best overall results of his career.

 

So I don't really see a signing based on a strong 2015, or a few strong months in Pittsburgh. I see one based on a multi-year transition and demonstrated learning + maturation.

 

One thing that has to be noted is that, even though he seems durable, he's certainly not an innings eater. This is a 5 or 6 inning guy, which is fine so long as the manager and GM recognize that. Happ doesn't have a lot of tricks in his bag so even common sense tells you that the times through the order penalty should apply to him with full force. By the 3rd time through the opposing team's order, more often than not, they probably have pretty good timing figured out on his fastball.

 

Aaron Sanchez as a 2 inning power RHP in the bullpen would complement Happ very well. You draw it up as 5 or 6 from Happ, 1 or 2 from Sanchez, then 1 each from Cecil and Osuna.

[Jimcanuck]

Some posts about the BJ org liking Happ, and I suspect the feeling is mutual. Quite possible he turned down better deal elsewhere to come here.

[labadee]

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001111229/Kool_Aid_answer_2_xlarge.jpeg

 

[Jayzfan79]

 

lol when i see this it reminds me of this.....

 

http://i.imgur.com/sRWhGRE.gif

[CJ-Freeway]

Meh. We have a legit shot at the WS in 2016. I don't have faith in Happ, he's the type to get lit up every 2-3 starts. We don't need Happ, we need a real #2 to compete vs the Sox.

[Trouba95]

Meh. We have a legit shot at the WS in 2016. I don't have faith in Happ, he's the type to get lit up every 2-3 starts. We don't need Happ, we need a real #2 to compete vs the Sox.

 

Why don't you let a few months go by before passing judgement?

[dineke]

Best use of GIF I have witnessed on these forums.

 

not a GIF...

[KingKat]

not a GIF...

 

It might be. Not all GIFs move.

[dineke]

It might be. Not all GIFs move.

 

Well if we're going to get technical, it's a JPEG.

[GD]

It might be. Not all GIFs move.

 

Right click -> Open in new tab -> URL -> .jpeg

[CJ-Freeway]

Why don't you let a few months go by before passing judgement?

 

This thread is about the Happ signing, so I'm talking about the Happ signing. Of course final judgment will be passed after the offseason is over. But the signing itself is meh.

[o2cui2i]

Anybody have any numbers on the benefit of lefty-righty balance in the rotation? I suspect that it's probably not something truly important but it might make Happ (or any decent lefty) slightly more valuable to a team without any other lefty starting pitchers.

 

having more than one reliable lefty in the pen is more important than how the rotation is put together.

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

The Good, The Bad and The Happ...y !!!

[Orgfiller]

33 years old and heading back to a hitting league.

 

Bad

 

He's literally AL East tested!!!

[o2cui2i]

He's literally AL East tested!!!

 

it's amazing how so many sofa GMs love to hate with no idea what is behind moves. The stat guys state their case and discuss and the haters just throw out random crap... then people throw gas on the fire just to watch it burn. our forum in a nutshell

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Just Nutz!!! Lol

[THANOS]

it's amazing how so many sofa GMs love to hate with no idea what is behind moves. The stat guys state their case and discuss and the haters just throw out random crap... then people throw gas on the fire just to watch it burn. our forum in a nutshell

 

Hey, it's a million times better discussing that signing on here than on Sportsnet or Social Media, where "WINS", "ERA", a league changes are the heralded opinions.

[o2cui2i]

Hey, it's a million times better discussing that signing on here than on Sportsnet or Social Media, where "WINS", "ERA", a league changes are the heralded opinions.

 

and you have the mods to thanks for this.... just sayin

[THANOS]

and you have the mods to thanks for this.... just sayin

 

I'm not one who complains about the moderating, other than the ridiculous thread merging that prevents great articles/reports from being noticed, hindering great conversation on said posts, and overall making the forum a tad boring compared to other forums around.

 

Other than that, though, I appreciate the strong pimp hand against trolls.

[o2cui2i]

I'm not one who complains about the moderating, other than the ridiculous thread merging that prevents great articles/reports from being noticed, hindering great conversation on said posts, and overall making the forum a tad boring compared to other forums around.

 

Other than that, though, I appreciate the strong pimp hand against trolls.

 

uh... you do realize how bad this post is right?

[vdubmvp]

and you have the mods to thanks for this.... just sayin

 

Agreed. Thanks Hurl, KingKat, and North.

[o2cui2i]

Agreed. Thanks Hurl, KingKat, and North.

 

I see what you did there. I'll bet Gsnarls is hurt. lol

[Dick_Pole]

lol when i see this it reminds me of this.....

 

http://i.imgur.com/sRWhGRE.gif

 

s***...as soon as I saw that I was going to say the exact same thing and dig through the internet to find that shockmaster gif.