When the Blue Jays signed J.A. Happ to a three-year, $36 million contract on Nov 27, 2015, it came as a surprise to many baseball fans north of the border. The 34-year-old left-hander had been a Blue Jay from 2012-14, but was jettisoned to the Mariners in exchange for Michael Saunders prior to the 2015 season.
The Blue Jays didn’t get any return in 2015 (Saunders was injured for all but nine games), but the Mariners didn’t get much from Happ either, as he had a 4-6 record with a 4.64 ERA before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.