White Sox star’s reaction to JA Happ signing will make Yankees fans laugh

White Sox star Tim Anderson was basically licking his lips to welcome former Yankees lefty JA Happ to Minnesota.

The Yankees’ relationship with JA Happ ended in contentious fashion this year, when he started off the season horribly (again), then improved to the point where he was dangerously close to meeting his innings threshold, triggering an expensive 2021 option.

We couldn’t have that, so he got…well…a little manipulated, from that point on. Just a skosh!

When all was said and done, the homer-happy Happ posted a 3.47 ERA (seriously) in nine starts instead of the minimum 10 (oof) before being relegated to mysterious relief duty in Game 2 of the ALDS (bad for both parties!). Not shockingly at all, he was basically the only name not connected to the Yankees all offseason, and chose Minnesota this week, one of the league’s famed punching bags for the Bronx Bombers.

After receiving this news, it seems like White Sox star Tim Anderson might have watched mostly 2019 Happ starts. Bottom line? He’s pumped.

https://twitter.com/aliwhitesox/status/1352024532790476801

The facts: Happ is 38, has a career ERA under 4.00, and was really great as recently as…well, 2020, even if it didn’t feel like it.

The perception? Happ was extremely tough to watch at times, and if his fastball was flat, it was going an extremely long way. Famously, he failed at nursing four-run leads a few times in ’20. His hand shook on the mound in Game 1 at Fenway Park in 2018. And, using the new baseball, he gave up a hilarious 34 dingers in 2019 in just over 160 innings pitched.

Anderson is one of the game’s brightest stars, and odds are he can hit Happ even at the lefty’s best. But this seems like a prime shot at regression hitting center stage, and the young and hungry White Sox are very ready to leap on their division foe.

Like the Indians, they have certainly gotten worse this month.

The postseason isn’t off the table for Minnesota, and if MLB does make the adjustments it considered and allow top seeds to choose their playoff opponents, you know the Yankees will be hoping the Twins make the cut.

Hey, anything to avoid Anderson’s White Sox, right?

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