Chicago Cubs send 4 prospects to Chicago White Sox for LHP Jose Quintana

The Chicago Cubs have jumped what is shaping up to be a competitive pitching market by acquiring Jose Quintana on Thursday.

This season’s trade market is looking like it will be dominated by teams looking for arms, especially those looking for a guy who can be in a playoff rotation, so the Chicago Cubs jumped out with a big package on Thursday to acquire Jose Quintana from the White Sox in an effort to return to the playoffs to defend their 2016 World Series championship.

Let’s take a look at the principles involved:

Jose Quintana, LHP, Chicago Cubs

Many had assumed that Quintana would be dealt along with Chris Sale and Adam Eaton in the offseason by the White Sox, but the deal the team was looking for never materialized. General Manager Rick Hahn stated in a conference call this spring that the team was open to moving “Q”, but their focus was more in limited deals with elite talent rather than “depth deals” with a number of quality prospects of lesser talent.

Quintana struggled to open the season, but he was one of the hottest pitchers in the major leagues in June, with a 2-1 record over five starts, throwing 30 1/3 innings with a 1.78 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 12/30 BB/K ratio. On the season, he’s made 18 starts with a 4.49 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and a 40/109 BB/K ratio over 104 1/3 innings. He’ll likely slot in the front three of the Cubs rotation along with Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester.

Eloy Jimenez, OF, Chicago White Sox

This past March, Call to the Pen took a look at Jimenez, who was ranked as a consensus top-15 prospect in the game coming into the season, ranked #6 by Call to the Pen in the offseason. The comparison in the current game that was part of that article was to Seattle slugger Nelson Cruz.

Jimenez has a traditional right field profile, with a big arm and big power in the bat. He also has a very quick bat through the zone, which allows him to still put wood on pitches, even when he’s fooled. He’s still developing his zone judgement, but he has walked in over 10 percent of his plate appearances this year in high-A, so he’s made some adjustments in that area as well, with the Cubs strongly considering a bump to AA.

Dylan Cease, RHP, Chicago White Sox

Cease without injuries interrupting his progress to this point is basically where Michael Kopech currently is. Cease has an electric arm, able to touch triple digits with his fastball, but also with an incredible hammer curve.

Cease has frontline starter upside or elite closer fallback, though he’s already dealt with some injury bugs along the way, and with an arm like he has, that will be a certain concern going forward, but a guy who was appearing on a number of top 100 lists in the offseason is really making big steps forward in low-A this year with a 2.79 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a 26/74 BB/K ratio over 51 2/3 innings.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Matt Rose, 1B, Chicago White Sox

Rose was originally an 11th round selection of the Cubs from Georgia State in the 2015 draft, where they liked his frame and projection for power in his right-handed swing. Rose has a long swing, but he does have monster power, and he’s struggled to put together that long swing for consistent contact.

After hitting .236/.323/.426 with 17 home runs in 2016, Rose has hit .227/.261/.481 with high-A Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League in 2017. Reports on his bat talk about how the ball explodes off his bat when he gets ahold of it, but that he has tremendous work to do on his zone and pitch recognition. Certainly a flyer type of power hitter.

Next: Braves win at more than the game

Bryant Flete, IF, Chicago White Sox

Flete is a middle infielder the Cubs signed out of the Dominican Republic. He made his pro debut in 2012 as an older prospect than the average Latin American signing, but he hit quite well his first few stops in the minor leagues. He’s an older prospect at 24, but he has a little power, a little speed and a passable glove at short that works much better at second base. He’s hit .305/.355/.425 with six home runs and four stolen bases at high-A Myrtle Beach this year.