Why Yankees’ J.A. Happ is ‘for sure’ open to re-signing

Could the Yankees and left-hander J.A. Happ be a match in the offseason? Well, general manager Brian Cashman needs starting pitching, and Happ has looked comfortable in pinstripes since coming over from the Toronto Blue Jays in the non-waiver deadline deal which sent third baseman Brandon Drury and outfielder Billy McKinney to Canada.

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OAKLAND — The Yankees paid rental price to plug J.A. Happ into their rotation.

If they can find the right price point, it sounds like they could have the left-hander for far beyond that.

Happ said the Yankees have made a great first impression on him and that he’d consider staying — “for sure.”

“I’d hate to get too far into that, but the one thing that I’ll say is, I’ve been impressed since I came over here with how things have worked so far and all the baseball-related things have been a positive,” Happ said before Monday’s 6-3 loss to the A’s at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

“So, I think I’d be foolish to cross anybody off the list. But, yes, certainly, judging by how the first month has gone, it would be a place that I for sure would consider coming back if there was interest.”

Happ, at 35 years old, is likely looking at his last big payday in the majors — one that he’ll almost certainly get.

Scheduled to start Tuesday, Happ has gone 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA in six starts with the Yankees, his only clunker coming when he gave up five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in a loss to the Tigers his last time out.

Judge passes big test

He’s 15-6 with a 4.00 ERA in 26 starts on the season, which saw him traded from Toronto to the Bronx at the trade deadline for infielder Brandon Drury and outfield prospect Billy McKinney.

Happ is in the final season of a three-year, $36-million deal. He’s made $13 million in 2018.

The Yankees would make perfect sense as a fit, considering they still lack an established No. 2 starter behind Luis Severino.

While Masahiro Tanaka has pitched better in the second half, he’s been mostly inconsistent over the last couple of seasons. CC Sabathia is on a year-to-year basis at this point, though he’s said he wants to play in 2019. Lance Lynn will be a free agent and the Yankees are unlikely to re-sign him as a starting pitcher. And it feels like only a matter of time before the Yankees part ways with the underperforming Sonny Gray.

Several young arms — Justus Sheffield, Jonathan Loaisiga and Chance Adams, to name a few — could get looks to crack the rotation in spring training.

He said he’s not sure exactly how much longer he’d like to play, though he did say “several” seasons.

“I haven’t really given it a ton of thought,” Happ said. “I don’t really look into the age thing. I know teams and people in general will be I feel like I’ve sort of been an outlier of that trend for the last couple of years. As long as I feel good and stuff, I feel like I’m still able to produce. In other words, I don’t want to put a cap on it, but I know that I do want to play several more years and at that point, we’ll just see what happens.”

He said he feels like he’s in very good shape physically.

“The conditioning aspect — I feel like I’ve always sort of helped me,” Happ said. “I feel like that work ethic has always been there. I think it’s putting the mental part and the physical part together that has helped me the last several years.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.