It looks as if JA Happ will remain in pinstripes. Some will tell you this is a consolation prize to Patrick Corbin. I’m here to tell you JA Happ will out pitch Patrick Corbin in 2019.
To prove my theory, I will begin with a comparison of both pitchers over their respective careers: JA Happ is a 12-year veteran with a career record of 109 wins against just 83 losses and an ERA of 3.94. In those 12 MLB seasons he has only had a losing record three times. He is also a 20-game winner as recently as 2016 and was an All-Star in 2018. Last season Happ was 17-6. He gave up only 150 hits in 177 innings, less than one hit per inning. Happ has finished as high as sixth in Cy Young voting.
Patrick Corbin is a six-year veteran with a career record of 56 wins against 54 loses with an ERA of 3.91. In those six years he has two losing seasons and as recently as 2016 had an ERA over five and was 5-13. Corbin has two all-star appearances and has finished as high as fifth in Cy Young consideration. Last season Corbin was 11-7 with an ERA of 3.13. He gave up 162 hits in 200 innings pitched.
The plus for Corbin is that he is six years younger than Happ and may ultimately be a better long-term investment, but Corbin has failed to put together back-to-back successful campaigns, and given their recent history, I believe Happ will out pitch Corbin at least in 2019. I even think he will be a solid pitcher in 2020 (Probably with a little decline).
Even with this, I still think the Yankees are thinking of adding one more starter to the mix. I don’t believe that Sabathia is much more than a sixth starter at this point in his career. Perhaps a tandem approach with an opener for Sabathia could work out nicely. Or, perhaps they go all in on a front of the rotation guy like Syndergaard. Whatever they decide, I don’t believe they are done with the rotation by a long shot.
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I also think the Yankees will make a play at Manny Machado, but I believe that they will fail to open their wallets wide enough to land him. I hope I’m wrong. If they do acquire Machado, does that lower Andujar’s trade value with opposing teams? Would they think that the Yankees will almost certainly be inclined to trade him? If that’s the case, perhaps a trade deadline move will make more sense assuming that Didi Gregorius will have (hopefully) made his return by then.
There are still so many good questions that remain at hand. This is what makes the off-season so fun! Let’s see where the dominoes land.
