Yankees Rumors: Should they overpay to sign J.A. Happ?

The Yankees may have missed out on signing Patrick Corbin but there are still plenty of high caliber starters they could pursue on the free agent market. Bringing back veteran left-hander J.A. Happ is one option, however, it’s questionable whether the Yanks would overpay to sign him.

As we saw with the Corbin deal on Tuesday, teams are going to have to overpay to land one of the top free agent starters this offseason. The Yankees learned that the hard way when they weren’t willing to offer Corbin anything more than a five-year deal worth $100 million.

It’s not that the Yankees were wrong not to offer Corbin a six-year, $140 million deal like the one he ended up signing with the Nationals. However, if they think any of the top starters still available are going to take a discount just because they’re the Yankees than they’re sorely mistaken.

Take former Bomber Nathan Eovaldi, for example. He’s projected to sign a huge contract in the coming days after he dominated last postseason, helping the Red Sox win the World Series. Despite an injury history that seen hi undergo two Tommy John surgeries, Eovaldi will still make close to $20 a season because he’s only 28 and he peaked at the perfect time.

The Yankees would love to have him in their rotation if only just so they don’t have to face him in a Boston uniform anymore, but there’s no way they’d offer him a four or five-year deal. The same goes for fellow Yankee killer and free agent Dallas Keuchel. That’s what it’s going to take to sign either, but in Eovaldi’s case, the Yankees know that’s too risky of a move having dealt with his most previous TJ surgery first hand.

Again I can’t blame them if they don’t value that specific pitcher as highly as some other teams do. That’s what kept them from giving in to Corbin’s demands and because of that, they may fall short of landing another elite level starter this offseason as they had planned on doing.

However, in the case of J.A. Happ, who is only looking for a three-year deal at most, it may be worth it. The Yankees want Happ back and have shifted their focus to him after losing the Corbin sweepstakes. Happ was outstanding for the Yanks last season after they acquired him before the trade deadline, going 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts. He got knocked around in his only postseason start against Boston, but that still shouldn’t stop the Yanks from pursuing him.

Even though Happ is getting up there in age at 36 years old he’s still performing at a high level and is coming off one of the best seasons in his career. A reunion with the Yanks makes a ton of sense and unlike with some of the younger free agent starters on the market, there’s a chance Happ would re-sign with the Yankees for a year less than he had hoped for.

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The Yankees would still have to overpay to sign him, but only in terms of salary. Since they’d probably be hesitant to give him a three-year deal they could offer a two-year deal worth around $32 million. Maybe even throw in a club option for a third year and another $16 million.

At this point in his career, I’m sure money means a lot to Happ, but a chance to win another World Series could mean more. Especially if he’s still going to make a big-time salary. Whatever the case may be the Yankees should strongly consider doing whatever it takes to get Happ because, in my opinion, he’s probably the safest bet of the top free agent starters to live up to his next contract.

He has the track record, he’s shown he could pitch in New York and the Yankees know they need to add another front-line guy in order to be World Series contenders next season.

Might it be against their better judgment to pay a pitcher Happ’s age that much per season? Sure. But as I said before all these top free agents are going to get overpaid so it makes a lot more sense to overpay the guy who’s only asking for a two or three year deal than the guy who’s looking for five or six.