Veteran lefty J.A. Happ has retired after spending parts of 15 seasons in the Major Leagues. The 39-year-old discussed his career, his journey to pro ball and his decision to step away from the game in an appearance on the Heart Strong Podcast with Jessica Lindberg.
Happ acknowledges that he went “back and forth for pretty much the whole winter” trying to determine whether he wanted to return for another season, going through his usual training regimen to be ready in case he felt a pull to return to the mound.
“It got to the point where it was Opening Day, and I turned the first game on, and I talked to my wife, Morgan, and I said ’What are you feeling?’ She just kind of looked at me and said, ’A little anxiety.’ I wanted to turn it on to see what I felt, too, and I didn’t maybe feel what I needed to feel in order to think I wanted to keep doing this. I felt like that was a sign, like ’OK, it’s time to go.’ Even though I had put the work in to be ready if the right situation came, I felt like it was time to move on and be a dad and dive into the kids. … It was emotional — something I didn’t expect. I called my agent that day, right after we turned that game on, and said, ’I think this is it.’ I told the people I feel like I needed to tell. I think I’m still processing it, but I do wake up feeling good about it, and I’m happy to start the process of being a full-time dad, for the time being, at the very least.”
Originally a third-round pick by the Phillies back in 2004, Happ made his MLB debut with Philadelphia in 2007, appearing in just one game. He pitched in eight games the following year, earning enough trust to make the team’s NLCS roster and turn in three sharp innings of relief. By the 2009 season, Happ not only established himself as a member of the Phillies’ rotation but took home a second-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting after logging a 2.93 ERA in 166 innings of work. He began that year in the bullpen but moved into the rotation in late May, going on to hurl shutouts against the Blue Jays and Rockies in just the seventh and fourteenth starts of his big league career.
Strong as Happ’s early work was, the Phillies couldn’t resist the temptation to include him as part of the return for right-hander Roy Oswalt — a three-time All-Star and regular Cy Young contender at that point in his career. That 2010 swap proved to be the first of several notable trades in which Happ was involved over the course of his career. The Astros included him in a massive 11-player swap with the Jays that saw Happ land in Toronto and a then fresh-faced prospect named Joe Musgrove among the most notable names sent to Houston. Happ was also swapped straight up for outfielder Michael Saunders in 2014, and after returning to the Blue Jays on a three-year, $36MM deal as a free agent, he was flipped to the Yankees for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney in the final season of that pact.
Happ was never a flamethrower or a perennial All-Star, but he carved out a lengthy career as a mid-rotation starter in the perennially dangerous American League East, spending six of his 15 years with the Jays and another three with the Yankees. From Happ’s peak in 2014-20, he notched 1058 2/3 innings of 3.81 ERA ball — a strong run that included an All-Star nod in 2018 and a sixth-place finish in 2016 American League Cy Young voting. His consistency netted him a trio of sizable free-agent contracts: his aforementioned $36MM deal with the Blue Jays, a two-year Yankees deal worth $34MM, and a one-year deal with the Twins that promised him $8MM just last season.
All in all, Happ steps away from the game with a lifetime 133-100 record, a 4.13 ERA, 1661 strikeouts, four complete games and three shutouts compiled while suiting up for eight teams: the Blue Jays, Phillies, Yankees, Astros, Twins, Mariners, Pirates and Cardinals. He reached the postseason six times, winning a World Series ring with the 2008 Phillies and pitching well in four of those six playoff runs. (He made one start with the Yankees both in 2018 and 2020, neither of which went particularly well.) Between the three previously referenced free-agent deals and his arbitration seasons, Happ earned more than $97MM in a career pegged at 21.5 wins above replacement by Baseball-Reference and 21.8 WAR by FanGraphs.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images/Imagn.
133 wins and 21 rWAR is a fine career. Even better—$97M.
I never quite believe lefty pitchers have retired until a couple off seasons go by.
And a World Series ring. A lot of guys spend their whole career chasing one of those. A very solid career.
Beautiful quote. All the respect to any person mature enough to think about family. Imagine that…
And Red Sox fans anxiously wait for Rich Hill to do the same.
Happ-y trails.
Looking forward to his induction into Monument Park in Yankee Stadium so he can join all the HR balls he “helped” put there in that part of the ballpark.
I guess that’s sort of funny.
Yes
Yankee fans are brutal today. He wasn’t the only one to give up jacks in 29, the year of the juiced ball.
Yeah, he speaks of “a little anxiety” by turning on the first game this year – that’s just a taste of what he gave Yankees fans every time they saw him take the mound…
But, long career, good career overall. Congratulations to Happ & family on retirement and best wishes to them for the next stage of their lives.
good job Clipper.
Clip, at least he’s showing some integrity by recognizing he’s washed up ,and not just chasing the almighty dollar.
too bad Hicks and Gallo , especially Hicks haven’t reached that stage of enlightenment.gallo might at least salvage some of his skills on another team.
If he got an offer to his liking he would be on a pitching staff right now. It has little to do with integrity or recognizing he is “washed up”. Similar situation with Asdrubal Cabrera who had a dismal finish to last season saying he had offers, but none to his liking. Pitching for a team like the Pirates in 2015 in a pennant race and signing with them now hoping to be traded at the deadline is not the same thing
Most likely.
@Yankee Clipper It was his wife who mentioned anxiety, probably from worrying that he was going to try to play another season. They surely had enough $ in the bank by now.
Happ was 21 – 10 with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.196 WHIP with the Yankees. That seems pretty worthy of at least a modicum of praise, rather than derision.
I didn’t get that either. It sounded like some of the RS fans that would complain about everyone. Yankee fans seldom do that.
Well Joe, when your team makes the postseason 23 out of the past 27 years there’s not much to complain about.
It’s not like the Yankees are losing consecutive games at home to the Orioles and Reds by a combined score of 12-1.
Plus for the facts, and also for using “modicum”.
Is modicum the opposite of plethora?
Scarcity is the opposite of plethora.
You can look it up!
Modicum is in between both.
But then I think that you knew that Cosmo.
Yea I was kinda joking heh
He gave up 34 HRs in 160 innings with a 4.91 ERA in his only full season with the Yankees where he started 30 games.
That isn’t even including his putrid performance in the playoffs.
“MoDiCuM oF pRaIsE”
No love for him going 7-0 in 11 games with a 2.69 ERA and 1.05 whip after being acquired for spare parts in 2018? He was your best starter down the stretch and helped you make the playoffs.
true. But as Yankees fans, we put more weight on his poor performances in the postseason, which were often.
And he flat out sucked in the playoffs, much to the dismay of the Happ fan club in the replies : )
Yup
This times a million. Classless fans who cheer when their pitchers hit the opposing teams batters, regularly throwing trash on the field. New York as a whole is trash. I’d rather live in Jersey and that’s saying a lot
StefanArkansas clearly taking out his frustrations with his battle with ED on Yankees fans. Sad.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn. 30 years there. It’s not NY per say. Yankees breed a different type of fan. Degenerates
A good ☝️
Stefan:
1) you misspelled Steven, and
2) if you insult people for speaking honestly about their criticisms of a player, who wasn’t that good even with the benefit of hindsight, it is unbecoming. It reflects a lack of the moral & intellectual foundation required to be successful in society.
I bid you good day, ma’am.
Clip, nicely expressed.
StefanArkansas
Cope and seethe, clown 🙂
“Stone Cold Steve Austin”,
Yankees fans are classless but yet here you are with a Steve Austin persona…the guy who legit assaulted his wife.
Embracing someone who engaged in domestic violence isn’t a good look, it’s “classless”.
Apparently you don’t watch or go to games either because you couldn’t be more off-base on your assessment.
“Regularly throw trash in the field.” Yeah, okay, WWE guy. Here’s an idea, why don’t you crush another beer can on your head and drink it because…ya know, that’s real class fella.
He was, you’re right, but in big moments he was unpredictable, to say the least. He could be on and perform well for a few innings, or could get clobbered. Remember, he pitched for them when they finished near first each year in runs too.
Ask any Yankees fan and Happ was NOT someone anyone wanted to pitch in a game that mattered. Playing the O’s? Yeah, he could be lights out. Playing Boston in a postseason game? Yeah, it was batting practice.
No too many people would defend Happ as a Yankee, but like many players (say, Gallo), when you view the overall numbers at the end, they may look like he was alright. But you don’t want that dude anywhere near the field when it matters.
Solid career. Best of luck to him and his family. I personally never judge a player on how much money they made. I always expect and root for players to make as much money as they can for themselves and their families. Bad contracts are written by management.
He didn’t throw real hard, so his success was determined by a inch or two on his location of his 93mph fastball. When he got it at or near the letters he was quite effective, but if it dropped a couple of inches he would give up the long ball. Again, good luck to him and his family and thanks for a nice career!
indeed!
That softball stadium has had some added benefactors!
That 2020 game in the ALDS was not a start but a botched relief appearance in which apparently Happ was not told in advance that he would be the long-man in a switcheroo after Deivi Garcia pitched only one inning as an opener.
So what. He’s being paid twenty million, he should be able to “adjust “to starting in the second inning rather than the first.
…and with that I believe Hamels is the only member of the 08 Phillies that has not officially retired. Unfortunately, Cole might be headed that way soon.
To be fair, Coles body I think is already past that. It’s either his mind telling him he has more left than what he does or a thirst for more money that’s the only reason he’s not “retired”.
I remember reading that Cole wants to pitch for as long as Jaime Moyer did. If that is the case, Cole would have 10 more years left. I don’t think he’s going to make it.
There is somewhere around fewer than 25 players still around since 2008. It’s crazy to think that because it doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago.
As the last remaining player to play for the Montreal Expos Bartolo Colon should never be allowed to retire
I never thought much of Happ until 2015 when he was traded to my Pirates and I got to see more of him. He was absolutely lights out for Pittsburgh. There was some (a lot?) of good fortune with those results, but Happ immediately impressed me as one of those vets who “knows how to pitch”, i.e. he always battles and makes the most of his ability and knowledge. Congrats on a very nice career.
Monkey-Happ is one of the pitchers that Ray Searage turned around and quite frankly saved his career.He had quite the two months in 2015 with them and they would have resigned them but they had just spent the same amount of money on their other lefthander,Francisco Liriano.
All in all Happ had a fine career and served little time on the IL.
Like Jim Bouton said,you spend all those years gripping a baseball,but in essence the baseball all of the time was gripping you.
Good luck to Happ in his retirement.
Some GM is going to try to trade for Happ at the deadline just out of habit.
Peru, IL native.
I used to live in the Quad Cities (Moline, IL) and drove through the LaSalle – Peru area often. The LaSalle – Peru area is a great place to live. I wonder if Happ will live there in retirement.
as a native, it’s a great peaceful place to live. He still had ties to the area, and him and his wife recently donated a lot of money to build a baseball themed splash pad for the kids of peru
Ottawa nice too. Cool how all the bars and restaurants were on one side of the street, while churches were on the other side. Heard it was because all the factories were on the other side of the street.
He likely doesn’t want to live there. Doesn’t want to see meth heads and degen gamblers spending every last penny into some poker machine.
And a Northwestern Wildcat to boot. Go Cats!
One of those guys who I could never understand why he found any lvl of success in the bigs, but he did it and did it for a while. Good for him.
HAPPy retirement!
I’m glad to see guys like this retire for family purposes. Some guys make a ton of money, lose their skills, and then hang on for 2-3 for relatively small wages. There is nothing better than being able to stay home and catch all the games/activities that the kids are involved in.
Aaron Hicks and Joey Gallo should take heed.
I wish Al Avila and Chris Illich would retire……..
One of the worst owner/GM combos ever. It take an effort to lose constantly and alienate in the of the best fan bases ever…..
WHEN CHRIS ILLICH FINALLY GETS AROUND TO SELLING THE TEAM….he is selling a diminished product, with a diminished fan base.
Go play hockey, you obviously have no passion for baseball.
Chris Illich is bad for baseball.
Wade LeBlanc next in line to file for retirement.
All in all, not a bad career at all. Far better than many pitchers today.
Solid career … good luck
I wonder why he’d bother making an announcement like this.
Why not just tell his agent that as of now he isn’t interested in playing? A month from now, maybe he feels differently.
What does he gain from the announcement?
Uh peace of mind. And so he can properly thank the fans, teammates, and team officials who helped him in his career. Even if it irritates one jakec77.
Right, closure is important.
A future member of the St Louis Cardinal HOF. He sacrificed so much for the organization and fell just two wins shy of possible statue consideration.
Retires because no team will sign him.
I’d be willing to bet he had a couple offers that just weren’t quite what he wanted. I’m sure a few teams made offers that would’ve bought him in as depth, but at his age, I’m sure anything minor league/spring training invite related wasn’t the kind of opportunity he was interested in.
He may have even gotten a couple mlb offers from non contenders. But again, an offer to be on a team that’s not going to be contending and either being stuck there all year or having to change cities/apartments mid season May also have not been appealing.
Exactly
See you in Cooperstown, Mr Happ
Maybe as a visitor like the rest of us.
Cool…you carpooling or meeting up?
happ said thanks for not mentioning the good job he provided for st. louis in his final year
I thought he already retired. He certainly pitched like it when he was with the Yankees.
Very good career. However, I am glad he is retiring. I won’t get to hear about Jay Happ anymore. People never called him J.A. Happ. It was always Jay Happ.
North of the border we call him “Jay Eh Happ”.
That’s what he wants to be called. I never understood why he didn’t just call himself J. Happ.
I think he just wanted to cause trouble for people. It’s pretty damn stupid to have two initials and only want to get called one of them.
Maybe Happ’s run in NYC would’ve been better had he not played in a little league park. lol
l’m assuming those who haven’t announced retirement are still playing somewhere like Hanley Ramires or Cespedes?
Overhated and underrated by some Yankee fans. Not this one. I appreciated the 21 wins, the most of any Yankee starter from his first regular-season start in pinstripes through his last. Only 19 starters won more in that span. Enjoy your retirement, Mr. Happ.
Yeah, he was good when he was on (mainly ‘18), but his 22.50 ERA in ‘18 against Boston & 13.50 ERA against the Rays in ‘20 was indicative of his big moment performances for me.
He was successful against MN, but they weren’t good, honestly.
He posted 4.91 ERA in ‘19 and 5.00+ in ‘21, which meant ‘18 & ‘20 were his only good years with the Yanks. ‘20 was only a 1/3 year, so that leaves ‘18. He only pitched 63 innings for the Yankees in 11 starts that year, so he was actually for Toronto for 2/3 of his starts. He absolutely imploded against Boston.
His only good year for NY was during the Covid season.
In ‘21 it was back to pitching batting practice for opposing teams (he obviously didn’t play for the Yankees in ‘21, but it wasn’t the full super ball year either, hence its inclusion).
Overall, good career. Happy for the guy, glad he’s making the choice to stay with family because that’s what’s most important. But, as a Yankee fan, my fingernails are happy he’s not pitching for our team any more.
clip, and if memory serves, the only reason Cashman signed him for another contract was that a pitcher was needed, he don’t want to invest for more years and money as the other free agent pitchers on the market that year.So he settled on Happ, and what was still an overpayment at the time, but still less than the other top free agent pitchers.
Doc, I believe you are correct, sir. I didn’t intend to disparage him, I was merely pointing out that he had a good career, but it wasn’t quite so good, imo, with the Yankees, and certainly not beyond. It was time.
I’m glad he recognized that it was time. I’m genuinely happy for him. Trust me, I would be ecstatic to report: “Happ was awesome, clutch even, for the Yanks. In fact, he shut Boston down in ‘18 & the Rays in ‘20.” But I can’t cause he didn’t….because he wasn’t, imo.
Funny, because reading Steven’s comments, name spelling errors aside, one would immediately ID him as a typical obnoxious NYer!!! Jokes on him, I guess….lol.
I agree with you Clipper, I wish his Yankees career in Postseason was better as well.in fact, his last year the Yankee brass did everything they could to avoid pitching him, he was that bad and they had lost faith in him. Additionally they didn’t want to give him enough innings, such that it would trigger some contract clause that would make them have to keep him and pay him for an additional year.
Furthermore, if someone becomes that incoherent and enraged about some less than laudatory offhand comments about some career mediocre pitcher, they must have some pretty significant anger management issues
On the other hand . . .
He was sabotaged by the front office in what should’ve been his start against the Rays. Some genius(es) got cute trying to emulate Kevin Cash and used Deivi as an “opener.” Great idea. In the eleventh hour before the highest-pressure game of the season, they decided to change the routine of a starting pitcher who had started every game except one back on Sept. 25, 2019, when Boone used Loaisiga as an opener in a Yankee loss. Not that a guy accustomed to starting games since May 2009 was a creature of habit or anything.
The last previous time he pitched in a game that he didn’t start was a single game in 2015 when he was brought in to pitch the ninth.
I endured the same frustrations you did when he failed. But consider that the Yankees settled for the Wild Card in 2018. Without his seven wins, would they have been there? He had a 21-10 record in pinstripes. Every win counted in the standings.
And Happ lost the first game in the ALDS. Severino and Sabathia lost their games too, and Sevy gave up 6 earned in 3 innings on the way to a humiliating 16-1 shellacking. Sabathia also lasted only three innings and yielded 3 runs. Only Tanaka won a game in that series.
In 2019, the Yankees won the division by 7 games. Happ had a 12-8 record and started 30 games, the most in the rotation. Just eating innings and maintaining a winning record contributes something to the team effort.
He wasn’t an ace. But neither was he a bad starter for the Yankees. That loss to Boston in the 2018 ALDS was his only postseason start in pinstripes. Too bad they didn’t let him start his last postseason game in 2020. And that was only the second game in the series. It was Chapman’s failure in Game 5 that sent them off to the links.
Happ was in the twilight of his career when they got him, and he did alright. I don’t miss him, but I won’t dis him.
Fair enough, man, fair enough.
Makes sense Pink. But I would just add that if a guy is being paid $17 million a year, he can certainly find a way to adjust to starting in the second inning rather than the first inning. How difficult could it be, after all for a supposed world class athlete.Just saying he could’ve just dealt with it ,instead of whining like a baby as he tended to do. Put on the other hand I also agree that it was an asinine move by the front office to begin with. They could’ve just let him start the game,though likely the result would’ve been the same
I would give adjusting a try for $17M per year. Hey, I’ll do it for a discounted $15M!
Fink,
Agree with every word! Not sure why some Yankee fans are bringing up some of his bad times. This is a time to say thanks and goodbye not why did you pitch poorly in a playoff game.
YES announcers have said Trevino looks like a few different guys, but not this guy:
https://bit.ly/3GDqotF
https://bit.ly/3NbfDkK
Yes? No?
Definitely: https://bit.ly/3NbfDkK
Lol.
https://bit.ly/3NRHF4J
I think Telly has a larger Proboscis.
Okay. Do you think there’s any resemblance?
Yeah, I think there’s a resemblance to Telly. I could certainly see it. Telly’s features are a bit more…unique, but throw Yankee gear on him and I could see it.
Poor Trevino…. Still not nearly as bad as David’s Buddy Hackett comp for Wandy…..lololol.
Small, but I don’t care what he looks like . They need to keep playing him as long as he is hitting!
One of Cashman’s better under-the-radar trades, for sure. Even when he doesn’t hit, he’s a fine defensive backstop and calls a good game.
What about Dean Cain? Trevino definitely has a Dean Cain look, to me anyway.
I can see that one, yes.
Alright, which one of you two gave Andujar permission to wear girl’s softball pants again?
Personally, I like his look better than the tight knickers rolled up over the knees that Cimber of the Blue Jays wears. As long as Miggy keeps playing like he has been lately, he can bat in a tuxedo for all I care. I’m enjoying seeing him get playing time and capitalizing on it.
Yeah, true story, man. Loving the fact Miggy’s been playing well. Ducky always loved Miggy, so he’s got to be super stoked right now for him.
Well, you answered it, it was you, Fink (eye roll). As soon as he slumps they go back to the girls though, deal?
BTW, some great defense tonight, including Gleyber’s continued solid D at 2B. Judge’s catch I’m CF was awesome, it took away a HR, and the jumpstart on offense was really fun to watch. Hey, Carp hit another one too! Not too shabby for a washed up guy, eh?
I’m happy for Carpenter. He can still handle the lumber. Love a comeback story.
Yes but someone should tell him He’s allowed to take a walk once in a while.he has zero on the season. OBP is exactly same as batting average.
His stat line gives his OBP as .313 and his BA as .154, with two walks. Anyway, he’s only had 16 plate appearances so far. Besides, I can’t complain about a 163 OPS+ and .928 OPS.
Hey, we are Yankees fans, we can complain about anything! Haven’t you read anything Antonym Steve has written!!!
This seems like the perfect career to me. A long, successful career, a World Series ring, a ton of money… and yet the guy can still walk down the street with his kids without being recognized and annoyed by fans. Perfect.
Your excellent at name calling, too bad your “expertise” doesn’t extend to manors or baseball analysis.
A good one!
I give the guy huge respect for a career in the meat grinder that WAS the AL East. Think of the hitters that came through that division during his career. Great numbers considering most of those games are played in softball stadiums! Here’s to a long retirement for Mr. Happ!
That’s true, especially during the super ball years. He didn’t have overpowering stuff, as one astute fan noted above, so he had to be precise. With Manfred’s special bouncy balls (take that however you want) it made it incredibly difficult on his mediocre FB when he missed over the plate.