By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It is déjà vu all over again. The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees are contending for another left-handed starting pitcher, after both clubs lost out on Patrick Corbin to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
According to MLB.com's Jon Morosi, the Phillies and Yankees are "best positioned" to sign 12-year veteran southpaw free agent J.A. Happ, who is viewed as "the next key domino in the pitching marketplace."
Happ, 36, went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA, 63-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.052 WHIP with the Yankees in 2018, after the club acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays in late July for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney.
The Phillies drafted Happ in the third round of the 2004 amateur draft out of Evanston, Illinois' Northwestern University, the same university that produced former Yankees World Series-winning manager Joe Girardi. Happ was dealt to the Houston Astros in the four-player transaction that brought Roy Oswalt to the Phillies in July 2010.
"One agent of a fellow free agent pitcher" told Morosi that teams are waiting on Happ to decide where he will sign, "before moving on other starter."
On Tuesday, NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury said the Phillies were "turning their attention" elsewhere, after failing to sign Corbin. The club wants a left-handed starting pitcher, and have been linked to Happ, the recently posted Yusei Kikuchi, the San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner, and the Arizona Diamondbacks' Robbie Ray. The Giants are said to be "not close to trading Bumgarner," as of Sunday evening, however, according to Morosi.
The Phillies were keen on bringing back Happ in July, and "remain interested in a reunion," according to Salisbury.
Happ appeared in both World Series with the Phillies under Charlie Manuel in 2008 and 2009. It would be fitting if he could be part of what to Phillies hope to be another run in 2019, 10 years later.
