5 budget free agents the Mariners need to sign this offseason

JA Happ

JA Happ became a free agent this offseason after the Yankees declined his $17 million team option for 2021. The option would have been a guaranteed contract if Happ had hit 10 starts in 2020, prorated down from 27. However, the Yankees only started Happ for 9 games, and as you could imagine Happ was not Happy (No pun intended) with the Yankees not using him to save money.

So, as Happ hits the open market and will not be resigning with the Yankees because of their fallout, what is his value? Happ has had an up and down 14-year career that saw his best seasons come late due to a change in his mechanics while with the Pirates.

Since he left the Pirates five years ago he has had an ERA+ over 115 every season except one and made his first All-Star game at age 35. In his 3 seasons with the Yankees, Happ had a 4.12 ERA and a 4.87 FIP.

Happ’s value could fall somewhere in the 1 year $6 million region due to his age and somewhat declining performance, in which case the Mariners should definitely try to bring him back to Seattle. Happ started 20 games in 2015 for the Mariners under an entirely different regime, and the Mariners should consider bringing him back on a small deal for him to compete for a spot in the rotation.