4 Atlanta Braves Black Friday doorbuster bargains to consider
Ian Happ
- Could play virtually anything but catcher and SS
- 6’0″ / 205 LBS.
- AGE: 25
- SERVICE TIME: 2 years (still pre-arbitration)
- DRAFTED: 2015, 1st round, 9th overall (Cubs)
- LAST CONTRACT: $603,500
- HOMETOWN: PITTSBURGH, PA
Ian Happ came up to the majors fairly quickly with a lot of hype associated with him. Maybe too quickly.
He wowed fans at AAA Iowa in 2017 with a .298 average and a .977 OPS over his first month. He didn’t get a second month among the corn fields.
Upon joining the Cubs that season, Happ hit .253 with 24 homers in just 413 plate appearances – the most he’d clubbed at any level. That only fueled the hype.
Since then, Happ has been reeled back to earth – which included a return trip to Iowa that didn’t go nearly as well as before.
Still, in 58 games in Chicago in 2019, he hit 11 homers – good for an .898 OPS. That is just 156 plate appearances. Of course he’s also sitting on a 25% strikeout rate, but he does take his walks as well.
Happ is on this list here because the Cubs are ready to deal and because Happ is on their short sell list. In short, they are retooling and probably can’t figure out what to do with him… those days of playing 6+ different positions may be over.
From the Braves perspective, Happ is a switch-hitter (doing more damage from the left side) who can play any outfield position (CF in case of emergency) and could be ready to finally break out at the plate.
He’s not a free agent – the Cubs would want something back of value, but it’s not beyond reason to see that these teams could get together on a deal if Atlanta really thinks they need an outfielder.
With 4 years of control, the price of admission is more about matching up in a trade; less about the dollars cost.
From the sound of things from the Cubs, this might not be that tough a sell.