J.A. Happ
The 34-year old hurler is locked up for the 2018 season on a somewhat team friendly $13 million dollar term which could make the southpaw an attractive option for a team looking for more than a rental player.
Happ has rebounded nicely over his last five starts since recovering from elbow inflammation that plagued him earlier in the season. Happ owns a respectable 3.47 earned run average with a 1.158 WHIP in 10 starts this season.
Once again Jon Morosi mentioned Happ as an intriguing option for the Houston Astros who are looking for a mound upgrade. Happ pitched for the Astros for parts of three seasons before being shipped to Toronto as the corner piece of a 10-player trade in 2012.
The Blue Jays would in all probability rather keep Happ north of the border for next season and try and move some of their pending free agents, however, Happ would yield a more lucrative return than that of some of their struggling starters.
The Blue Jays scored two decent prospects in the Francisco Liriano acquisition for Drew Hutchison so there is no telling what the return could be for the former 20-game winner.
If teams won’t pay the price then you keep him in the rotation for next season, it’s a win, win either way as the Jays are definitely in the driver’s seat for the Happ sweepstakes.