The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that they signed right-handed pitcher J.A. Happ to a three-year contract worth $36M. He pitched in Toronto from 2012 until 2014, posting a 4.39 ERA in 291 innings during his time there. The 33-year-old Happ had a 1.85 ERA in 11 starts with the Pirates after being acquired from the Seattle Mariners at the trading deadline for Adrian Sampson. He had a 4.64 ERA in 108.1 innings with the Mariners, so the changes implemented by the Pirates really paid off for him on the free agent market.
There was a mutual interest between Happ and the Pirates to have him return to Pittsburgh, but the contract he signed was nearly equal to what the Pirates paid Francisco Liriano last off-season for three years.