By WFAN.com
Rotation is help on the way to the Yankees.
The Bombers acquired pitcher J.A. Happ in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. New York is giving up infielder Brandon Drury and minor league outfielder Billy McKinney in the trade.
The rotation has been the Yankees' most glaring weakness this season. The team lost left-hander Jordan Montgomery to Tommy John surgery last month, and Sonny Gray (7-7, 5.34 ERA) has disappointed since being acquired in a deadline deal with Oakland a year ago.
Happ has been the one that makes most sense for a while now. No true top rotation guys available. Happ has plenty of AL East experience and has pitched well against BOS over the last two years. Looking for more reliable than AAA types Yanks have been using.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) July 26, 2018A 20-game winner two years ago, Happ, 35, is 10-6 with a 4.18 ERA this season. He was selected to his first All-Star game learlier this month. The lefty, however, has struggled in recent weeks, going 2-3 with a 6.03 ERA over his last six starts.
MORE: Keidel: Yankees' Trade For Britton Makes Perfect Sense
Happ will become a free agent after the season.
The Yankees acquired Drury in a trade this spring to compete against rookie Miguel Andujar for the starting third-base job. Drury, however, missed significant time dealing with migraines, which opened the door for Andujar, who is batting .294 with 12 homers.
Drury, 25, hit .267 and .282 the past two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
I have wanted Happ for the Yanks all along. He is a proven commodity and he cost very little. Big pickup!
— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) July 26, 2018McKinney was part of the 2016 trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs. MLB.com ranks him as the Yankees' 20th-ranked prospect. The former first-round pick of the A's was hitting .230 with 13 home runs for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. He played in two games with the Yankees in March, going 1-for-4.
The Happ trade is the second one orchestrated by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman this week. On Tuesday night, he acquired Orioles reliever Zach Britton for three pitching prospects.
