Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ intriguing trade target for Astros: Morosi

Trade rumors and speculation are swirling north of the border involving the Toronto Blue Jays and whether the brain trust will be sellers or buyers at the looming trade deadline.

The Blue Jays have pitchers Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano who are slated to become free agents at season’s end however there stock has plummeted of late due to inconsistent play and inflated earned run averages.

However, yesterday Jon Morosi added another name to the rumor mill tweeting that J.A. Happ would be an intriguing trade candidate for the Houston Astros. Happ and the Astros are familiar with one another while Happ is also under team control for another season on a relatively team-friendly deal.

Happ has looked sharp of late since returning from the DL and has surrendered three runs or less in each of his last five starts. The 34-year old is coming off a 2016 campaign where he won 20 games and posted a 3.18 earned run average finishing 6th in Cy Young voting.

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The former 3rd round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies sports a respectable 3.71 earned run average in nine starts so far this season and appears fully recovered from elbow inflammation he suffered earlier in the campaign.

Happ was traded from the Phillies to the Astros in 2010 with Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar for pitcher Roy Oswalt. Happ spent parts of three seasons with Houston going 18-28 with a 4.84 earned run average.

The Astros dealt Happ to Toronto in a 10-player trade in 2012 with Brandon Lyon and David Carpenter for a package that included Joe Musgrove, Francisco Cordero, Ben Francisco, Carlos Perez, David Rollins, Asher Wojciechowski and Kevin Comer.

The Astros currently own the best record in the majors maintaining a .679 win percentage thus far this season and are rumored to be in the market for a starting pitcher. Happ would definitely compliment Dallas Keuchel nicely at the front of the rotation.

Next: Blue Jays should consider trading Justin Smoak right now

The Astros will potentially get a first-hand look at their possible trade interest as the Jays roll into Houston for a 4-game set beginning on Thursday. Stay tuned as the trade winds continue to blow all around the slumping Blue Jays.