Happ on the move?
By Mike Gill
If the Phillies had their way, J.A. Happ would be pitching in Colorado right now. According to Joel Sherman from the New York Post, the Phillies had a deal in place with the Rockies for right-handed pitcher Jason Marquis and outfielder Ryan Spillborghs. Sherman said in his piece: “But as talks were heating up on this deal, the Rockies took off. And once they took off they felt it would be wrong to make a trade that would be interpreted as surrender in the clubhouse and among the fan base. So they tabled talks and now Colorado is quietly out in the marketplace seeing if it can find a veteran reliever.”
PCPTake: Happ has been a pretty pleasant surprise, but he is not going to be as consistent as the Phillies need to make a serious run. Spillborghs is a solid fourth outfielder who can start if needed. He is a career .295 hitter, but doesn’t have a lot of pop, which is what the Phillies are looking for off the bench. As for Marquis, he is a veteran guy in the mold of Brett Myers. he will eat innings, give you real solid games, mixed in with some five-run first inning games. He has had a real solid season with the Rockies this year, going 9-4 (Career 88-74) with a 3.71 ERA in 14 starts.
While I think Happ is a lot to give up and I am not a huge fan of Marquis, I think the Phils can afford to take a shot on this type of deal, if another innings eating pitcher can be had down the line.
I’ll be the first to admit that Marquis is putting together a very nice and very surprising season in Colorado but I’ll also quickly tell you I expect him to fall apart at any moment. The guy’s has a career .267 batting average against and has never been below a 1.33 whip. Happ looks like the real deal.
I’m surprised you say “(Happ) is not going to be as consistent as the Phillies need to make a serious run.” Happ seems to have been Mr. Consistency throughout his (albeit) brief career. I’d be very confident with him as my #4 heading into the postseason.
Happ has been very reliable so far in his career but this is a deal I would seriously consider. I agree with above comments in that I do not love Marquis but he is a sinker ball pitcher who could succeed at the Bank. Spilborghs would be a very good fourth outfielder.
Thats a tough one…
that’s kind of funny because just a couple days ago I saw that they weren’t too excited with Marquis