Chicago White Sox: Will Jose Quintana be on the move?
By Jason Evans
Could the Chicago White Sox finally be close to dealing Jose Quintana and continuing their rebuilding process?
The Chicago White Sox started their rebuilding process finally this off-season by dealing Chris Sale and Adam Eaton. They just gave shortstop Tim Anderson a nice extension as they have identified him as a part of their core moving forward after playing less than one full season in the majors. The one big piece they have yet to move is starter Jose Quintana.
Quintana may be the only difference-making starter that’s available for trade this season. The Yankees won’t be dealing Masahiro Tanaka. The Cubs won’t deal Jake Arrieta or John Lackey. The Rangers want to keep Yu Darvish and those are the the bigger names that would be available as a free agent after this off-season. The Rays aren’t in a rush to trade Chris Archer and Sonny Gray is injured for the A’s.
Do we have some movement in the Quintana market? Well, maybe.
#WhiteSox continue to work hard on Jose Quintana trade that could happen before opening day with Astros & Braves appear best possibilities
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) March 22, 2017
For the Astros, Quintana represents that missing piece to a rotation and a team that could compete not only for the playoffs, but also for a championship. They’ve made a lot of moves and spent a lot of money, plus have more picks to play with this year after the punishment levied to the Cardinals in the hacking scandal.
For the Braves, it would give them a young, cost controlled ace for a team with as deep a farm system as anyone in the game. Quintana and his team Colombia teammate Julio Teheran would give the Braves a dynamite top two in their rotation in a division where the Mets and Nationals have strong rotations. They can even buy Quintana and sell R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon at the trade deadline this year if the team is out of it.
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To me, it makes more sense for the Astros to get him than the Braves, considering how close they are to winning than the Braves, at least on paper.
For the White Sox, I don’t move him until I get the package back that I want. They really have all the leverage and there’s no reason to give that up.