J.A. Happ Traded to Yankees by Blue Jays for Brandon Drury, Billy McKinney

As the Toronto Blue Jays start looking toward the future, they have traded starting pitcher J.A. Happ to the New York Yankees.

New York announced Thursday it will send infielder Brandon Drury and outfield prospect Billy McKinney to Toronto. MLB Network's Jon Morosi was the first to report the agreement.

Now in his 12th MLB season, Happ has struggled leading up to the trade deadline. After posting a 3.48 ERA through his first 14 starts, the 35-year-old has given up 21 earned runs and seven homers in 31.1 innings since June 20.

Following a 17-12 start, Toronto has gone 29-43 to fall nine games under .500 and 14.5 games out of the American League's second wild-card spot entering play Thursday.

Per FanGraphs, Happ is tied for 17th among AL pitchers with two wins above replacement.

Since Happ is due to become a free agent after this season, it made sense for Toronto general manager Ross Atkins to flip one of his best trade assets for future players to help the franchise avoid a long fallow period.

Happ is no stranger to switching teams. He has been traded during the season three other times in his career, most recently going from the Seattle Mariners to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015.

As the Yankees battle the Boston Red Sox for the top spot in the American League East, they need to find any competitive edge available. Happ fits what they need down the stretch and for a potential playoff run.

The Yankees had to boost their rotation heading into the season's final two months. Luis Severino and CC Sabathia are New York's only starters with at least 100 innings and an ERA under 4.00.