Ex-Giants Sadek dies
Happ, Twins agree to $8 mn, 1-yr deal
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 21, (AP): The Minnesota Twins and veteran starting pitcher J.A. Happ agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
The person confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced it.
The 38-year-old Happ spent the past 2 1/3 seasons with the New York Yankees. Acquired from Toronto at the 2018 trade deadline, the left-hander went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts down the stretch to finish 17-6. The Yankees then rewarded him with a $34 million, two-year contract.
Happ will be just the second offseason addition by the Twins, who also added relief pitcher Hansel Robles to the team that has won the AL Central division in each of the last two years. Jake Odorizzi and Rich Hill became free agents, creating openings in the rotation behind José Berríos, Kenta Maeda and Michael Pineda. Minnesota was third in the AL in 2020 with a team ERA of 3.58.
Happ went 12-8 in 2019 and struggled at the start of the pandemic-delayed 2020 season, prompting the Yankees to skip his turn. Happ gained strength as the year went on and finished with a 2-2 record and 3.47 ERA in nine starts. His $17 million option originally would have become guaranteed with 27 starts or 165 innings, but the threshold was reduced to 10 starts with the shortened season. He fell one short.
Happ followed Deivi García as an opener in Game 2 of the AL Division Series for New York and gave up two-run homers to Mike Zunino in the second inning and Manuel Margot in the third of the 7-5 loss to Tampa Bay. Happ said after the game he would have been more comfortable starting.
Mike Sadek, a popular backup catcher who played all eight of his major league seasons with the San Francisco Giants, has died. He was 74.
The team announced Sadek died in San Andreas, California, following a short illness.
Sadek was a .226 career hitter with five home runs and 74 RBIs in 383 big league games from 1973-81.
San Francisco selected Sadek in the 12th round of the 1966 amateur draft but he opted to return to the University of Minnesota. The Twins then chose him in the fifth round the following year before the Giants picked him in the December 1969 Rule 5 Draft.
❑ ❑ ❑ Outfielder Michael Brantley has agreed to a $32 million, twoyear contract with the Houston Astros, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract, which is pending a successful physical, had not been announced.
Brantley spent the last two seasons in Houston after playing for Cleveland for his first 10 MLB seasons. Brantley hit .300 with five homers and 22 RBIs in 46 games in last year’s pandemicshortened season. He had three home runs and 11 RBIs in 13 playoff games last year as the Astros came a win shy of reaching the World Series for the second straight season.
The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to contracts with free agent pitchers Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymitybecause the club had not yet announced the moves.
Yates agreed to a $5.5 million, one-year deal with $4.5 million in potential performance bonuses. Chatwood agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract with incentives that could take it to $5.5 million.
Reliever Wade Davis is returning to the Kansas City Royals, the team he helped pitch to the 2015 World Series title.
Davis and the Royals agreed to a minor league contract, and the 35-year-old right-hander will go to spring training trying to earn a spot on the major league roster.
If added to the 40-man roster, Davis would get a one-year contract paying at a rate of $1.25 million while in the major leagues and $200,000 while in the minors.