Headlines

  • Red Sox, Enrique Hernandez Agree To Deal
  • Angels Sign Jose Quintana
  • Astros Sign Jason Castro
  • Nationals To Re-Sign Ryan Zimmerman
  • Marlins, Anthony Bass Agree To Two-Year Deal
  • Twins Sign J.A. Happ
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Pirates Acquire J.A. Happ

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2015 at 3:24pm CDT

The Pirates announced that they’ve acquired left-hander J.A. Happ from the Mariners in exchange for minor league righty Adrian Sampson.

J.A. Happ

In picking up Happ, the Pirates have struck a last-minute deal to add a back-of-the-rotation starter to their ranks. The 32-year-old pitched to solid results for much of his first and only season with the Mariners, but he’s run into trouble as of late, posting an unsightly 8.47 ERA over his past four starts — a span of just 17 innings. At his best, Happ is a serviceable back-of-the-rotation arm whose greatest problem is a susceptibility to home runs versus right-handed hitters. PNC Park’s dimensions will help to mitigate that concern, as it’s ranked as one of the toughest parks in terms of right-handed home run factor in each of the past three full seasons.

On the year, Happ has a 4.64 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 42.1 percent ground-ball rate in 108 2/3 innings. Those numbers are more or less in line with the totals he delivered from 2012-14, although they came in the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre as opposed to the pitchers’ paradise that is Safeco Field. (His ERA+ from ’12-’14 was 89, compared to just 80 this season.) Happ is earning $6.7MM this season and is a free agent this winter, so he’ll be a short-term pick up that the Pirates can use as rotation insurance down the stretch.

The 23-year-old Sampson ranked as the Pirates’ No. 28 prospect on MLB.com’s midseason update, where Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo praise the righty’s sinking fastball and ability to get grounders. The MLB.com duo notes that Sampson has strong command and average stuff across the board, giving him a low ceiling but also placing him close to big league ready. Sampson has started 21 games at Triple-A Indianapolis this season and has a 3.98 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 124 1/3 innings in that time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 17 Retweet 72 Send via email0

J.A. Happ Newsstand Pittsburgh Pirates Seattle Mariners Transactions

Rangers Acquire Sam Dyson From Marlins For Tomas Telis
Main
Padres To Acquire Marc Rzepczynski From Indians
6 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. raef715

    5 years ago

    Happ and Blanton in, Worley out- any more ex-phillies available?
    not a bad move for Pittsburgh to grab another starting pitcher cheap.

    Like
    Reply
    • NotCanon

      5 years ago

      Hey, anybody would like the results of the 2010 Phillies rotation.

      Admittedly, they acquired the least of that rotation, but…

      Like
      Reply
  2. connfyoozed

    5 years ago

    Couldn’t hurt. Sampson not among our top pitching prospects, so worth the risk.

    Like
    Reply
  3. ryzonryzon

    5 years ago

    So who are the two Pitchers that have to go? We are adding Soria and now Happ so two more have to go to make room and none have options.

    Like
    Reply
    • ronnsnow

      5 years ago

      Guerra DFA’d and Burnett to the DL

      Like
      Reply
  4. jimmerjimmer

    5 years ago

    Once Burnett returns, I imagine Happ will replace Bastardo as the LOOGY in the pen

    Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Red Sox, Enrique Hernandez Agree To Deal

    Angels Sign Jose Quintana

    Astros Sign Jason Castro

    Nationals To Re-Sign Ryan Zimmerman

    Marlins, Anthony Bass Agree To Two-Year Deal

    Twins Sign J.A. Happ

    Padres To Re-Sign Jurickson Profar

    Hank Aaron Passes Away

    Astros To Re-Sign Michael Brantley

    Blue Jays Sign Kirby Yates

    Recent

    Red Sox, Enrique Hernandez Agree To Deal

    Latest On Trevor Bauer

    AL News & Rumors: G. Richards, BoSox, Twins, Cruz, Angels, Astros

    Astros Designate Humberto Castellanos

    Angels Sign Jose Quintana

    Royals Announce 2021 Coaching Staff

    Astros Sign Jason Castro

    Reds Acquire Hector Perez From Blue Jays

    Nationals To Re-Sign Ryan Zimmerman

    Starting Pitching Rumors: Odorizzi, Paxton, Arrieta, Walker

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Trevor Bauer Rumors
    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • J.T. Realmuto Rumors
    • Marcell Ozuna Rumors
    • Masahiro Tanaka Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version