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On this day in Blue Jays history: Jays acquire J.A. Happ from Astros
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jul 20, 2025, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 20, 2025, 14:51 EDT
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One of the biggest trades of the 2010s for the Toronto Blue Jays took place 13 years ago.
On July 20, 2012, the Blue Jays sent Francisco Cordero, Ben Francisco, Asher Wojeichowski, Joe Musgrove, David Rollins, Carlos Pérez, and a player to be named later to the Houston Astros for David Carpenter, Brandon Lyon, and J.A. Happ. Unlike the trade we looked at yesterday, this one worked out for the Jays.
Starting with the Astros’ return, Cordero pitched just five innings with them, and the 2012 season was his final big league season. Francisco played just 31 games with them and retired after the 2013 season. Asher Wojeichowski pitched 16.1 innings with the Astros in 2015, but spent the rest of his big league career as a journeyman. Rollins pitched just 34.1 big league innings with the Seattle Mariners. Pérez played just 280 big league games and was above average.
The only notable player from the return for the Astros was Joe Musgrove. In two seasons with the Astros in 2016 and 2017, Musgrove had a 4.52 ERA and 4.31 FIP in 171.1 innings pitched. After the 2017 season, Musgrove was part of the trade for Gerrit Cole and spent three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Before the 2021 season, Musgrove was traded to the San Diego Padres, where he has spent the last four seasons. He’s currently on the shelf because of Tommy John surgery.
For his career, the 32-year-old has a 3.73 ERA and 3.78 FIP in 1,056 innings pitched, with a 23.9 K% and 6 BB%. Thankfully, the Blue Jays got a solid player in return.
It wasn’t Lyon, who pitched just 30 games with the Jays in 2012, where he had a 2.88 ERA and 3.09 FIP before ending his career after the 2014 season. Carpenter pitched even fewer innings, giving up nine earned runs in two and two-thirds innings. The pitcher was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Avilés in compensation for the Red Sox signing manager John Farrell; it’s a whole thing.
What made this return worthwhile for the Blue Jays was J.A. Happ. In two and a half seasons with the Blue Jays, he had a 4.39 ERA and 4.08 FIP in 291 innings pitched. After the 2014 season, Happ was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Canadian outfielder Michael Saunders, who was an All-Star in 2016.
After splitting the 2015 season with the Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates, Happ returned to the Blue Jays, signing a three-year deal worth $36 million. Happ was terrific in 2016, finishing with a 3.18 ERA and 3.96 FIP in 195 innings pitched, helping the Blue Jays make the postseason in back-to-back years. In 2017, he had a 3.53 ERA and 3.76 FIP in 145.1 innings pitched.
Happ’s final season with the Blue Jays was in 2018. In 114 innings pitched, he had a 4.18 ERA and a 3.84 FIP, earning his first and only All-Star nod of his career. On July 26, 2018, Happ was traded to the New York Yankees for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney, and he retired after the 2021 season.
Back in 2010, the Astros acquired him, Anthony Gose, and Jonathan Villar from the Philadelphia Phillies for Roy Oswalt. Gose was immediately traded to the Blue Jays, and Villar was eventually traded to the Blue Jays in 2020.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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