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J.A. Happ

Quick Hits: Rangers, Happ, Osuna, Yankees, Chapman

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Some notes from around the league:

  • The Rangers have expressed interest in free agent left-hander J.A. Happ, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Texas is expected to work younger players into the fold after posting the worst record in the American League in 2020. Nevertheless, the Rangers figure to explore the market for plenty of lower-cost starting pitchers this winter, particularly if they trade Lance Lynn before his final year under contract. The 38-year-old Happ put up a 4.57 ERA across 210.2 innings with the Yankees from 2019-20. He’s also known to have drawn some attention from the Angels, likely among plenty of others.
  • The Pirates designated José Osuna for assignment yesterday, suggesting they were prepared to non-tender him rather than pay his projected $1.1MM arbitration salary. The organization expects Osuna to pursue an opportunity in Asia, general manager Ben Cherington told reporters (including Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic). It isn’t yet clear if that job is in Japan’s NPB or in South Korea’s KBO. The 27-year-old (28 in December) hit .241/.280/.430 over 705 plate appearances for Pittsburgh over the past four seasons.
  • Aroldis Chapman will now serve a two-game suspension to start the 2021 season, relays Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The Yankees reliever was originally suspended three games for (intentionally, in MLB’s determination) throwing a pitch near the head of Rays infielder Mike Brosseau. Chapman managed to shave a game off on appeal. Brosseau, of course, went on to hit a series-winning home run off Chapman a month later during Tampa Bay’s run to the American League pennant.

Angels Notes: Happ, Ohtani

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The latest from Anaheim…

  • J.A. Happ is receiving consideration from the Angels and other teams, MLB Networks’ Jon Paul Morosi tweets.  It stands to reason that the Angels are looking at just about every starting pitcher available as they try to upgrade their rotation, and given the team’s injury history with pitchers, a durable veteran arm like Happ would seem to be of particular interest.  Happ posted a 3.47 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 2.80 K/BB rate over 49 1/3 innings with the Yankees last season, and though advanced metrics weren’t as enamored with his work, Happ would still appear to have something to offer a team as he enters his age-38 season.  Morosi notes that new Angels GM Perry Minasian was working in the Blue Jays front office when Toronto traded for Happ during the 2012 season and when the Jays signed Happ as a free agent in the 2015-16 offseason.
  • “Pathetic” was how Shohei Ohtani bluntly described his 2020 season, during a revealing interview with Yuichi Matsushita of the Kyodo News.  Ohtani struggled in both facets of his game, hitting just .190/.291/.366 over 175 PA and allowing seven runs over 1 2/3 innings pitched (37.80 ERA) before being shut down from mound duty due to a flexor strain.  “More than thinking how (the team) couldn’t use me or how frustrating it was, the hardest part was thinking I couldn’t produce,” Ohtani said.  “If I could, I would compile better numbers, get more playing time and wouldn’t feel useless.  I was frustrated I couldn’t get it done, and that was the hardest….I’d pretty much never experienced the feeling of wanting to do something but being completely unable to do it.”  Ohtani was returning to pitching after Tommy John surgery kept him off the mound in 2019, and he admitted to feeling “different” while pitching post-procedure, saying “I’ll think I want to do something a certain way, but sometimes I can’t.”  The Angels are surely hoping Ohtani can get back to form with a more normal offseason that doesn’t include rehab or the stop-and-start nature of last year’s preseason training, as both his bat and his arm are sorely needed.
  • In other recent Angels news, the team added top prospects Brandon Marsh and Chris Rodriguez to the 40-man roster — details on that decision here.

Yankees Decline J.A. Happ’s Option

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The Yankees have unsurprisingly declined their $17MM club option on left-hander J.A. Happ, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). The option did not come with a buyout figure, so the Yankees will simply allow Happ to hit free agency.

This has seemed the way Happ’s time in the Bronx would come to an end for a while. His contract, signed in December 2018 and containing a two-year, $34MM guarantee, came with a 2021 club option that would’ve vested had Happ started 27 games or thrown 165 innings in 2020. Prorated to ten starts and/or 62 innings during the shortened season, the southpaw was held to nine starts totaling 49.1 innings last year. That proved to be a source of frustration for Happ, who suggested the Yankees were deliberately curtailing his workload to keep the option from vesting. Whether or not that was the case, he did indeed come up short of those marks and will hit the open market.

To his credit, Happ was actually pretty productive in 2020. He pitched to a 3.47 ERA over those nine starts, albeit with some reasons to question his ability to continue to prevent runs at that level. Happ benefited from a .223 opponents batting average on balls in play and stranded a lofty 81.3% of the baserunners he allowed. A few more batted balls finding grass and less timely sequencing would have pushed that ERA closer to his 4.57 fielding independent pitching mark.

Nevertheless, the 38-year-old has been plenty durable the past few seasons and offered solid production at the back of teams’ rotations. His age limits his earning power (he might be capped at one-year offers), but Happ profiles as a solid candidate to bolster some team’s rotation depth.

AL Notes: Yankees, Pillar, Choo

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Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ needs 10 starts and 62 innings this season in order for his $17MM option for 2021 to vest. Happ isn’t on pace to reach either milestone – he has three starts and 12 2/3 frames thus far – and he suggested the Yankees are trying to prevent him from reaching those marks. “It actually doesn’t take too much to figure out sort of what could be going on,” Happ said of his usage (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “I think I can help our team. I’d like to be out there every five days.” Even if Happ’s right, it’s hard to blame the Yankees for not wanting him around at such a lofty salary in 2021. After struggling in 2019, the first guaranteed campaign of a two-year, $34MM guarantee, the 36-year-old Happ has yielded nine earned runs on 10 hits (including four homers) with six strikeouts against 10 walks this season.

  • Outfielder Kevin Pillar hopes to remain with the Red Sox, but the soon-to-be free agent understands he’s a trade candidate as the Aug. 31 deadline approaches (via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom informed Pillar that he’ll listen to offers for the 31-year-old in the coming days. It would be a surprise if Pillar’s still a member of the Red Sox on Sept. 1, considering their status as non-contenders, Pillar’s waning team control, and the fact that he’d be more useful to a playoff-caliber club. Since signing a one-year, $4.25MM contract with the Red Sox last winter, Pillar has lined up at all three outfield positions and batted a playable .257/.316/.419 in 114 plate appearances.
  • As a pending free agent, Rangers designated hitter/outfielder Shin-Soo Choo realizes he could pop up in trade talks with Monday looming, as Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram writes. “Every year, it’s been, ‘Trade Choo, trade Choo,’ but this year I have a very strong feeling,” Choo said. From the Rangers’ standpoint, though, finding a taker for Choo would likely be difficult. The 38-year-old, normally a quality offensive player, has slumped to a .216/.306/.365 line with three home runs in 85 plate appearances this season. That’s unappealing production at any price, let alone the prorated $21MM Choo is earning. Regardless, as someone who has procured 10-and-5 rights, Choo has the ability to veto any trade.
  • More on the pitching-needy Yankees, who seem likely to promote right-handed prospects Clarke Schmidt and Deivi Garcia over the weekend for their major league debuts, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post suggests. Either Schmidt or Garcia could be trade bait for the club before Aug. 31, observes Davidoff; if not, they may be able to help the Yankees’ staff. The 24-year-old Schmidt and Garcia, 21, are regarded as a pair of the Yankees’ top farmhands, with MLB.com ranking the former second in their system and placing the latter at No. 3.

Happ, Hill, McHugh Among Players Excluded From Vesting Clause Agreement

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6:39pm: Red Sox righty Collin McHugh is also excluded from the agreement, Martino tweets. McHugh, who’s still working back from the nonsurgical procedure he underwent on his pitching elbow over the winter, signed an incentive-laden deal with Boston in March. Back when McHugh inked the contract, it included $3.625MM in available incentives based on between 30 and 115 innings pitched; it also featured roster bonuses for 15 to 90 days on the team’s active roster.

1:02pm: It emerged yesterday that the league and union had agreed upon how to handle vesting clauses and certain bonuses in a highly modified 2020 season. But it seems the general agreement includes carve-outs for certain players.

Among those known to be excluded are Yankees lefty J.A. Happ and Twins southpaw Rich Hill, according to reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Andy Martino of SNY.tv. In those cases — and, it seems, a few unidentified others — the team and player will have to reach modified agreements or submit cases to an arbitrator to decide how their contracts should be treated.

In Happ’s case, his original contract included a $17MM vesting/club option for the 2021 season. It would become guaranteed if he made 27 starts and/or threw 165 innings this year. As for Hill, there aren’t any options. But his deal included generous incentive pay for accumulating relatively small numbers of games started and/or innings pitched (maxing out at $9.5MM with 15 starts and/or 75 innings).

It’s still not fully clear just why certain players were excluded from the broader deal. A source tells Martino it relates to health situations at the start of the season, though as he notes that doesn’t quite align with Happ’s case.

MLB, MLBPA Still Discussing Vesting Options, Retention Bonuses

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The length of the season, prorated salaries and protocols for health and safety are finally all set in place, but Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are still negotiating the manner in which contractual options, performance incentives/bonuses and escalator clauses will be handled, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required).

Fortunately, an agreement is believed to be “within reach,” per Rosenthal. The league had initially sought to prorate the value of 2021 options using the same formula as 2020 salaries, although the MLBPA obviously pushed back against that notion. There’s still some debate over the handling of vesting options — particularly those that are triggered by reaching a set number of games pitched or plate appearances over the life of multiple seasons. The two sides also must determine how those options would be treated in the event that the season is canceled at any point due to health concerns.

There aren’t too many vesting options in MLB this year, although some of the notable ones include:

  • Jon Lester, LHP, Cubs: Lester’s $25MM mutual option ($10MM buyout) for the 2021 season would become guaranteed with 200 innings pitched in a normal season.
  • J.A. Happ, LHP, Yankees: Happ’s $17MM club option for the 2021 season would’ve become guaranteed upon making 27 starts or totaling 165 innings in 2020.
  • Andrew Miller, LHP, Cardinals: Miller’s $12MM club option for 2021 would have been guaranteed if he totaled 110 games between 2019-20. As Rosenthal explores, there are various ways to interpret how many more games he’d need to pitch to trigger that option — some more beneficial to Miller and others to the Cardinals.
  • Charlie Morton, RHP, Rays: Morton’s option is another that comes with a multi-year criteria. His contract calls for a $15MM club option in 2021 if he spends fewer than 30 days on the injured list between 2019-20. The option value decreases if he spends additional time on the injured list. Morton avoided the IL entirely last year. Unlike Miller, who surely hopes the number of appearances he needs to make in 2020 can be prorated, it’d be beneficial to Morton for that number (30) to remain as is. That seems unlikely, but the disparity between the clauses of Miller and Morton illustrates that this isn’t exactly straightforward for the player side. The value of his option
  • Kelvin Herrera, RHP, White Sox: Herrera, too, needed 110 games between 2019-20 for his $10MM club option to become guaranteed. He pitched in 57 games last year, leaving him 53 shy of his target.
  • Wade Davis, RHP, Rockies: Davis’ $15MM mutual option would’ve converted to a $15MM player option in the event that he finished 30 games. He’d only need to finish out 11-12 games in the shortened 2020 season if the two sides go with a strictly prorated interpretation of the qualifiers.
  • Bryan Shaw, RHP, Rockies: Shaw has the same 110-game target for 2019-20 that Miller and Herrera have. He pitched 70 times in 2019 and needed just 40 appearances in 2020 to lock in a $9MM salary for the 2021 campaign.
  • Jake McGee, LHP, Rockies: With 60 games pitched or 40 games finished in 2020, McGee would’ve locked in a $9MM salary for the 2021 season. His contract also allowed the option to vest with a with 110 games between 2019-20, but he only pitched in 45 contests last year.
  • Stephen Vogt, C, Diamondbacks: Vogt’s contract included a $3MM club option that not only vests but increases to a $3.5MM base upon starting 45 games and appearing n a total of 75 games overall.
  • Dee Gordon, 2B/SS/OF, Mariners: Gordon would’ve been guaranteed a $14MM salary for the 2021 season with 600 plate appearances this year. That, of course, was extremely unlikely in the first place, though.

Beyond those options, there are myriad escalator clauses throughout baseball that could be impacted by the shortened schedule. It’s fairly common for club options and/or future salaries to be boosted by steady performance — particularly among players returning from injury. Take Dellin Betances, for instance. His contract with the Mets calls for the value of next year’s $6MM player option to increase by $800K upon pitching in 40 games. He’d receive additional $1MM boosts to that figure for appearing in 50, 60 and 70 games apiece.

The league and the union are also still discussing potential retention bonuses for six-year veterans on non-guaranteed deals. In a typical year, any player with six-plus years of service who finished the preceding season on a 40-man roster qualifies as an Article XX(B) free agent. Such players must either be added to the 40-man roster, released five days prior to Opening Day or paid a $100K retention bonus to remain with the club in the minor leagues. Many players in that situation are released and quickly re-signed to a new minor league deal, but that won’t be possible in 2020 due to the fact that players who are removed from a team’s 60-man pool become ineligible to return to that team this season.

Quick Hits: Bitsko, Tanaka, Moskos, Draft Prospects

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Nick Bitsko was originally slated to be part of the 2021 draft class, so when the young righty took some extra courses to graduate high school after his junior year and thus become eligible for the 2020 draft, the Rays didn’t have a ton of fresh information available, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  The Rays were limited to a three-inning showcase last August, “plus a 50-pitch March bullpen session at a small indoor facility and an hour-long Zoom call last week,” yet were still impressed enough to make Bitsko the 24th overall pick, just days before Bitsko’s 18th birthday.

Working largely off limited video from Bitsko’s high school games, some throwing-session footage posted by Bitsko himself online, and cellphone footage shot by scout Zach Clark during the bullpen session, the Rays became comfortable in the right-hander’s ability.  Clark is still the only Rays employee to speak to Bitsko or his parents in person, as Bitsko’s next meeting with team officials came during the online conversation.  “I think the Zoom call sent it over the top for our guys,” Clark said.  “Listen to Nick talk about pitching, preparation, what he’s done in the past, you’re like, ’Man, it’s really hard to believe you’re talking to a 17-year-old.’ ”

More from around baseball…

  • Of the Yankees’ three veteran impending free agent starters, Masahiro Tanaka is “the favorite to return” to the Bronx in 2021, George A. King III of the New York Post opines.  Tanaka will turn 32 in November, though James Paxton shares almost the exact same birthday and will carry a much more checkered injury history into the open market, while J.A. Happ turns 38 in October and is coming off a rough 2019 season.  Of course, there’s nothing stopping the Yankees from re-signing only one of these hurlers, and there’s also nothing to say that New York couldn’t let all three walk.  The latter scenario seems less likely, however, as that would leave the team with quite a young and unproven rotation mix behind Gerrit Cole, unless the Yankees acquired another veteran starter.
  • Fangraphs’ David Laurila recently caught up with Daniel Moskos, the fourth overall pick of the 2007 draft and currently the pitching coach for the Yankees’ A-ball affiliate in Charleston.  Despite his lofty draft status, Moskos’ MLB career consisted of only 24 1/3 innings for the Pirates in 2011 before elbow problems and a Tommy John surgery took their toll.  After bouncing around the minors, the Mexican League, and independent ball, Moskos followed the lead of several pitchers in recent years by visiting the Driveline facility to try and get his career on track.  As it turned out, it led to a career change entirely, as Moskos retired in order to take a job as coach and trainer at Driveline.  That position led to a lot of interest from other organizations about coaching roles, leading to Moskos being hired by the Yankees last November.
  • While teams are now eligible to begin signing undrafted free agents, some notable players who weren’t selected have opted to go back to school rather than take a $20K offer.  The Athletic’s Josh Tolentino reports (Twitter link) that right-hander Tommy Mace will return to Florida for his senior year, which isn’t surprising given that Mace was a consensus top-75 prospect as per this year’s draft projections.  (The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Mace as the 46th-best player in the class, with Fangraphs not far behind in placing Mace 47th.)  As Tolentino notes, another good year from Mace could make him in the top-15 range for the 2021 draft.
  • Infielder Darren Baker will also forego a free agent contract and return to Cal next season, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.  Baker, the son of Astros manager Dusty Baker, was rated 184th in Baseball America’s draft prospect rankings.

AL Notes: Yankees, Angels, Indians, Twins, Rays

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The Yankees’ rotation took a serious shot Wednesday when it was announced that they’ll go without left-hander James Paxton for three to four months on account of back surgery. General manager Brian Cashman discussed the news with Joel Sherman of the New York Post, saying Paxton first complained of back discomfort in his final regular-season outing Sept. 27. That didn’t stop Paxton from making three playoff appearances, though, and Cashman noted surgery was a “last resort.” The timing of the procedure’s not ideal, but the Yankees didn’t want to rush into a decision, according to Cashman.

One of Paxton’s fellow Yankees lefties, J.A. Happ, was a trade candidate earlier this offseason, but Cashman revealed Paxton’s injury “certainly” played a part in the team’s decision to keep him. However, there was trade interest in Happ, Cashman told Sherman. “There was a lot of knocking on our door about it,” he said.

Here’s more from the American League…

  • Angels infielder Luis Rengifo appears to be on the verge of going to the Dodgers in a trade for outfielder Joc Pederson. It’s not the first time Rengifo’s name has come up in trade talks this offseason, though. Rengifo was part of the discussions between the Angels and Indians when the two teams were weighing a Corey Kluber swap back in December, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. The two clubs couldn’t come to an agreement, and the Indians ended up trading Kluber to the Rangers a few days later.
  • Twins righty Jake Odorizzi decided to forgo free agency this offseason in favor of the team’s $17.8MM qualifying offer. Odorizzi may have done better on the open market – MLBTR predicted a three year, $51MM payday – but he doesn’t regret his choice to stick with Minnesota on a short-term deal. “Not a bit,” he told Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. “I made my decision based on the best knowledge we had at the time. Money started flying around pretty quick, and the market got pretty hot, but nobody predicted that.” Indeed, there has been far more money distributed in free agency than many anticipated when the offseason began. Odorizzi’s now left to hope the cash will continue flowing next winter if he gets to free agency, though Miller writes that he remains “open to” a long-term pact with the Twins.
  • Rays outfield prospect Josh Lowe underwent right shoulder debridement surgery in November and “likely” won’t return to action until late May, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The 22-year-old Lowe, a 2016 first-round pick and the younger brother of Rays first baseman Nate Lowe, ranks as the team’s 11th overall prospect at MLB.com. Josh Lowe enjoyed a strong season at the Double-A level last year, when he slashed .252/.341/.442 with 18 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 519 plate appearances.

Brian Cashman: J.A. Happ To Open 2020 In Yankees’ Rotation

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There has been no shortage of offseason trade speculation centering on Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ, especially in the wake of the team’s blockbuster Gerrit Cole signing. If we’re to believe general manager Brian Cashman, though, Happ isn’t going anywhere. Cashman told Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network (video link) that Happ will open 2020 as the Yankees’ fifth starter behind Cole, Luis Severino, James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka.

Whether you want to take Cashman’s statement at face value is up to you, but it does appear Happ would be a challenge to trade. The normally solid Happ is coming off a subpar season, set to enter his age-37 campaign, owed a significant salary, and has an unappealing vesting option baked into his contract.

Happ, who pitched to a 4.91 ERA/5.22 FIP with 7.81 K/9 (down from 9.78 the prior year) in 2019, will earn $17MM this season. Worsening matters, he’ll make another $17MM in 2021 if he racks up 165 innings or 27 starts this year – two figures he has typically approached or surpassed over the past several campaigns.

Getting Happ’s money (or at least some of it) off the books would help the Yankees from a luxury-tax standpoint, as they’re currently projected for a whopping $261MM-plus total. That said, there’s a case it would benefit them to keep Happ around and hope for a bounce-back showing.

Happ, despite an overall disappointing year, did end last season on a high note with a strong September. He’s also the most logical candidate to eat innings from the back of a Yankees rotation that will go awhile without righty Domingo German, whom MLB handed a suspension for domestic violence that will cost him the first 63 games of 2020. Meanwhile, southpaw Jordan Montgomery – the Yankees’ next most experienced starter – barely pitched over the previous two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Beyond German and Montgomery, New York’s looking at mostly unproven 40-man options, albeit some intriguing ones including Deivi Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga, Albert Abreu and Mike King, as well as minor league signing Nick Tropeano. One or more of them could factor into the Yankees’ starting staff during the season, but for now, it appears they’ll take a backseat to Happ.

AL Notes: Yanks, Happ, Astros, Harris, White Sox, Robert

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Here’s an early morning look around the American League…

  • Even after losing right-hander Domingo German to an 81-game suspension for a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, the Yankees “remain open to trading” lefty J.A. Happ, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Yankees were of the belief German would serve a significant suspension all along, so the league’s decision hasn’t affected their plans regarding Happ. The big question continues to be whether they’ll be able to find a taker for Happ, who’s 37 years old, coming off a poor season and due $17MM in 2020. Happ also has a $17MM option for 2021 that will vest if he amasses 165 innings or totals 27 starts this year.  He posted back-to-back 30-start seasons from 2018-19.
  • The Nationals reeled in the top reliever left in free agency on Thursday, agreeing to a three-year, $24MM contract with righty Will Harris. The 35-year-old entered free agency off a long and fruitful run in Houston, but Harris explained to Mark Berman of Fox 26 that the Astros “were eliminated pretty early on in the process” because they weren’t prepared to approach his asking price. “They weren’t in that ballpark, no. They had kind of admitted to me they would’ve liked to have done more, but they weren’t able to.” Harris is now the latest key Astro to leave last season’s AL pennant-winning club, joining Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley. Robinson Chirinos could be the next to go.
  • In another of Thursday’s major news items, the White Sox locked up center field prospect Luis Robert to a six-year, $50MM guarantee. The two sides began negotiations back in September, and those talks gained steam at last month’s Winter Meetings, according to general manager Rick Hahn (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Now that Robert’s long-term future is settled, there’s no reason for the White Sox to worry about his service time, so it appears likely he’ll crack their roster out of camp. Robert’s fully confident that will happen. “I’m 100 percent convinced I’m going to be on the Opening Day roster,” the 22-year-old said.
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