Struggling Twins starter Happ to Cardinals for reliever Gant

wireready_07-30-2021-21-08-05_00157_jahapp

J.A. Happ (Photo courtesy of Associated Press)

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals acquired left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ and cash from the Minnesota Twins for right-handed pitcher John Gant and a minor-leaguer on Friday, a deal finalized in the last hour before the trade deadline.

The 38-year-old Happ is in his 15th major league season, his first with the Twins after signing for $8 million this year.

Happ started strong, coming within five outs of a no-hitter on April 23 against Pittsburgh, but over his last 14 starts he has an 8.74 ERA with 109 hits and 19 homers allowed in 70 innings. For his career, Happ has a career record of 128-98 with a 4.13 ERA. The Cardinals will be his eighth major league team. He followed José Berríos out of Minnesota’s rotation, after the Twins traded the right-hander to Toronto earlier on Friday.

The 28-year-old Gant is 4-6 with a 3.42 ERA in 25 appearances this season for the Cardinals, including 14 starts. Since moving to the bullpen on June 28, he has a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings with a .167 opponent batting average. He started his major league career with Atlanta in 2016.

The Cardinals also sent minor league left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk to he Twins in the deal. Sisk had a 3.31 ERA with 20 walks and 46 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings over 26 relief appearances between Class A Peoria and Double-A Springfield.

The Twins were in St. Louis on Friday to start a three-game series.

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI