Yankees trade two players from minors for Jays’ Happ
TRENTON » Jay Bell doesn’t need to recall Zach Britton’s big-league resume to know how good of acquisition he was for the Yankees. The first-year Thunder manager’s Double-A team faced Britton’s devastating sinker in a rehab outing back on June 6.
The two-time All-Star reliever, acquired by the Yankees from Baltimore late Tuesday night for Dillon Tate and two other minor leaguers, retired all three Thunder batters he faced on three pitches.
“He was really, really good — and that was even before his fastball was back from a velocity standpoint all the way,” Bell said.
The Yankees also bolstered their starting rotation Thursday with a deal for Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ. Infielder Brandon Drury and outfielder Billy McKinney are heading to Toronto.
“He’s a little bit older, but I’ll tell you what: He’s a quality pitcher,” Bell said. “He knows how to pitch. He can only help, so I’m excited about having the opportunity. It’ll be fun to watch the Yankees to see what happens.”
With Britton, the Yankees built on a strength and have a legitimate case for the deepest and best bullpen in baseball featuring Adam Warren, Chad Green, A.J. Cole, Chasen Shreve, Jonathan Holder, Dellin Betances, David Robertson, Aroldis Chapman and now Britton.
With Happ, the Yankees bring in an experienced veteran who has pitched in the AL East for the past three seasons. Happ, 35, has a 4.18 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 114 innings this season and was a first-time All-Star. And in his last 10 starts against the Red Sox dating back to 2015, he has posted a 1.78 ERA with a .202 opponent batting average.
“They’re trying to win a World Series,” Bell said. “They want to get some pitchers in there that are going to do a good job and get some guys out. That’s what it’s all about is trying to figure out a way to get the big club a trophy and a bunch of rings.”
The ripple effect in Trenton of Drury and McKinney leaving the system is not yet clear. But the Britton deal triggered left-hander Caleb Frare’s promotion to Triple-A. The Thunder received right-hander Matt Wivinis from High-A Tampa.
Despite Tate’s departure, Bell expects Trenton to go back to a six-man rotation soon with Brody Koerner moving in that direction in his development. Bell said having six starters is beneficial because it keeps pitchers’ innings from building up as quickly in a season.
With the July 31 trade deadline still a few days ago, more minor leaguers could potentially be on the move. And even though it’s an unavoidable anxiety in the age of social media, Bell said he tries instilling in the players that they need to focus on controlling on what they can control. They are also auditioning for other major league teams at all times.
“Hopefully they embrace the fact that, ‘Hey, I’m going out there, yeah, I’m trying to get better. I want to be a Yankee one of these days at the big league level,’” Bell said. “But at the same time, they’re also trying to improve and state their case for other organizations. There’s a lot of teams out there that want good players, and we’ve got a lot of them.”