Some baseball fans can argue that the weeks leading up to the trade deadline are some of the most exciting of the entire regular season. Whether it’s a team looking to add that one missing piece, or a team looking to sell and plan for the future, no one team can be considered completely out on mid-season trades. This especially is true for the Chicago White Sox, as they fall into the latter category of the rebuilding teams. With a top three farm system in all of baseball already, the White Sox will look to be No. 1 come August. They have the assets, leverage and a man with a plan in Rick Hahn. First, we tackle all of the potential trade candidates for the White Sox ace Jose Quintana.
Quintana is far and away the White Sox top asset on the team. After a slow start, he dominated in June, posting a 1.78 ERA over 30 1/3 innings. It seems Quintana is finally back to normal, and that should be music to both the White Sox, and a handful of other teams’ ears.
Most Likely Landing Spots
1) New York Yankees
New York is my number one destination for Quintana for a handful of reasons. For one, the Yankees are familiar with Q, being the team that originally drafted him. They also have numerous players in the farm system that need to be added to the 40-man roster by November 20th. If not, those players will enter the Rule 5 Draft and be picked up by other teams.
Those players are Gleyber Torres, Albert Abreu, Domingo Acevedo, Tyler Wade, Zack Littell, Thairo Estrada, Clint Frazier, Dustin Fowler, Ian Clarkin, Billy McKinney and J.P. Feyereisen.
All, but two of those players are in the Yankees top 30 prospects. In short, it would be better to move some of those players and get Quintana in return, than not trade for him and lose some top prospects for nothing.
Finally, the Yankees are clearly ahead of schedule with their rebuild. The Baby Bombers have been mashing baseballs all season, but have slumped recently. Severino has been great for New York, but Tanaka has been inconsistent. Trading for Quintana would give them another front-line rotation starter that is cost-controlled for another 2 1/2 seasons. It makes too much sense for both sides, and it should come to fruition soon.
Prediction: Quintana traded to the New York Yankees for OF Blake Rutherford, SS/2B Jorge Mateo, and RHP Chance Adams.
2) Houston Astros
The Houston Astros come in at two on the list. So far this season, the Astros have simply obliterated everyone in their path. At 57-27, they have essentially punched their ticket to the postseason already. In fact, the Astros magic number already stands at 64! If the Astros keep up this pace, the Angels would have to go 67-7 to catch them before the season ends.
So yeah, they’re looking pretty good. However, all of that changes in the playoffs. With Houston just recently losing David Paulino for the next 80 regular season games and all of the playoffs, the Astros suddenly could use an arm. And with their franchise having never won a World Series, or a World Series game for that matter, now is not the time to stand pat.
They have no reason to not go all in.
If it does end up being the Astros trading for Q, I expect it to be something along the lines of this…
Prediction: Q for OF Kyle Tucker, RHP Forrest Whitley, and another high-upside prospect.
3) Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers were a team out there this past offseason that was heavily tied to Jose Quintana. Obviously the two teams were not able to come to an agreement, and Q has stayed put on the South Side for now.
The Dodgers are in the middle of a three-team race with the Diamondbacks and Rockies in what is the tightest division race in baseball. Obviously the Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, a top three pitcher in all of baseball. They also are getting major contributions from Alex Wood, who owns a 1.83 ERA in 12 games started and Brandon McCarthy, who has a 3.25 ERA in 13 games started. If Jose Quintana were to come in, he would theoretically be their No. 4 starter ERA-wise, which as talented as he is, is an incredible value.
The Dodgers have not won a World Series in 30 years. Their window of opportunity is there, it is up to them if they want to really go all in. We saw last year the Dodgers starters crumble in the NLCS after they held a 2-1 series lead against the Chicago Cubs. If this trade comes to fruition, that will not happen again.
Prediction- Jose Quintana Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP Yadier Alvarez and OF Alex Verdugo
4) Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are the second team from the N.L. West that makes too much sense for a Quintana trade. Each and every year Colorado seems to put off a rebuild, adding a few pieces and going for it. Not so unlike the White Sox actually.
This year though, it actually worked. With 3B Nolan Arenado leading the charge, the Rockies seem to be legit. Greg Holland is dominating as their closer, and the Ian Desmond signing seems to be working perfectly (aside from his stints on the DL).
The Rockies would see themselves in the playoffs if the season ended today, but they would be one of the Wild Card teams, and a potential one and done. Obviously they would much rather go out and win the division to guarantee home field in the Division Series. One way to do that is to add a top-tier starter like Quintana. While his numbers would take a hit playing in hitter-friendly Coors Field, he would also be pitching in front of one of the most potent lineups in all of baseball. Q would undoubtedly get the run support he has so desperately longed for in Chicago.
As for what Chicago could ask for in return, it all starts with SS/2B Brendan Rodgers. With a Rockies infield featuring Nolan Arenado, D.J. LeMahieu and Trevor Story, Rodgers is essentially blocked at every position he is capable of playing. He is a perennial 5-tool player with the ceiling of an All-Star and the floor of an everyday regular. The No. 10 prospect in baseball would move to third in an infield already featuring Tim Anderson and eventually Yoan Moncada.
If the Rockies want to really go for the division crown, adding Quintana would be a step in the right direction. After Rodgers, it gets tricky. The Rockies also have RHP Riley Pint and OF Raimel Tapia in the top 100 prospect list. Tapia is already in the MLB, and would be harder to move. That leaves Riley Pint. The No. 41 prospect is not expected to be Major League ready until 2019. He sits at 98 with his fastball and it has touched 102. With that he can pair a plus curve and change and a decent slider as well.
Getting Quintana might not be worth giving up the top two prospects in the Rockies system, so in this scenario, the White Sox throw in Anthony Swarzak to sweeten the deal.
Prediction: Jose Quintana and Anthony Swarzak traded to the Rockies for SS/2B Brendan Rodgers, RHP Riley Pint
5) Sleeper — Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are currently ahead of schedule in their own rebuild, holding a 4.5 game lead in the N.L Central after today’s beat down of the Cubs. Milwaukee is not against adding a stud pitcher at the deadline for a playoff push. They did that two past separate occasions by adding C.C Sabathia and then Zack Greinke.
Quintana would give this surprising Brewers team a stud starter that could push them to the playoffs in a year where the Central looks to be wide open. If the Brewers decided to pull the trigger, they could offer what the White Sox want, as they have five prospects in the top 54.
Prediction: Jose Quintana traded to the Brewers for OF Corey Ray and LHP Josh Hader.
Summary
In short, the White Sox will have no shortage of suitors for Jose Quintana in the upcoming weeks. While there are four to five legitimate teams that could make a move for his services, I would be shocked if he ended up anywhere but the Yankees.
