Cardinals Acquire J.A. Happ and Jon Lester at Trade Deadline

CARDINALS & TWINS ANNOUNCE TRADE;

VETERAN LEFTY J.A. HAPP JOINS REDBIRDS; JOHN GANT TO MINNESOTA

ST. LOUIS, MO., July 30, 2021 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced this afternoon that they have acquired veteran left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ and cash considerations from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for right-handed pitcher John Gant and minor league left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk.

Happ, 38, is a veteran of 15 big league seasons since debuting with the Phillies in 2007. Happ has compiled a career mark of 128-98 with a 4.13 ERA in 343 career games (317 starts), including a career-high 20 wins in 2016 with Toronto.

The 6-5, 205-pound Happ has had career stops in Toronto, Philadelphia, New York Yankees, Houston, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Seattle. He finished 2^nd in N.L. Rookie of the Year voting in 2009 after winning 12 games for the Phillies and was an American League All-Star in 2018.

Happ has appeared in 15 postseason games during his career, including the 2009 World Series with Philadelphia. He is 5-6 with a 6.77 ERA in 19 starts for the Twins this season.

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CARDINALS & NATIONALS ANNOUNCE TRADE;

LEFTY JON LESTER JOINS CARDINALS; LANE THOMAS TO WASHINGTON

ST. LOUIS, MO., July 30, 2021 – The St. Louis Cardinals have announced their second trade of the afternoon, acquiring veteran left-handed pitcher Jon Lester from the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder Lane Thomas.

Lester, 37, was 3-5 with a 5.02 ERA in 16 starts for the Nationals this season.

The 6-4, 250-pound Lester owns a career mark of 196-116 with a 3.64 is a veteran of 16 big league seasons with Boston (2006-14), Oakland (2014), Chicago Cubs (2015-20) and Washington (2021).

Lester is a four-time Cy Young Award Top-10 finalist (2010, 2014, 2016, 2018) and a five-time All-Star. He led the National League in wins (18) in 2018 as a member of the Cubs and had a league-best .792 winning pct. (19-5) in 2016 while helping the Cubs to the World Series.

Lester is a three-time World Series Champion, winning titles in 2007 and 2013 with Boston and 2016 with the Cubs.

– STL-

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My Take: I get adding an innings eater, and don’t mind the Lester deal, but Happ was a headscratcher. They are both redundant at this point too, especially considering the team is hoping that Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty are healthy enough to start again in a few weeks.

The other issue with the deal was what they gave up. I think it was apparent that the Cardinals have moved on from Thomas, but Gant was still a valuable arm for the bullpen in the past. I’d rather have just kept him and take some of the load of Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos, and Alex Reyes.

Like I said earlier in the week, this team needed too much to be a true contender, and they made moves that prove they believe it too. At this point, they are just going to suck up innings with Happ and Lester and try to take some of the load off the bullpen.

To see what everyone else did, check out the Deadline Tracker.