The Chicago White Sox and veteran left-handed starting pitcher Jose Quintana could be heading towards a reunion per reports.
The Chicago White Sox are a team still in need of finding and signing players to take chances on and fill out the depths of their roster. One area that the White Sox still need to pay some bit of attention to and where signing free agent to a one-year deal to be a stopgap in the rotation until prospects like Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are ready would of a great benefit for the Chicago White Sox to do. In a recent article published in MLB.com Scott Merkin has the Chicago White Sox as being a “realistic” landing spot for veteran left-handed starting pitcher Jose Quintana to sign with.
Jose Quintana’s early career
The now 35-year-old Jose Quintana was signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent all the way back in April of 2006. Quintana was subsequently released by the New York Mets which allowed Quintana to sign a deal with the New York Yankees as a free agent who then eventually also ended up releasing Quintana to free agency.
Quintana ultimately found his way onto the Chicago White Sox when he signed a deal with them as a free agent in November of 2011. Quintana went on to make his Major League debut the following year on May 7th, 2012, against the now Cleveland Guardians in which he went 5.2 innings, allowed 1 hit, struck out 3, while walking 2, and allow 0 earned runs. Quintana would go onto pitching in parts of six seasons with the White Sox accumulating a record of 50-54 with a 3.51 ERA, 890 strikeouts, in 1055.1 career innings with one All-Star appearance.
When Quintana’s time was coming to a close with the White Sox who were entering their first rebuild, Quintana was ultimately traded in a deal too their crosstown rivals the Chicago Cubs on July 13th, 2017, for a package of prospect that included names such as Bryant Flete (minors), Matt Rose (minors), Dylan Cease and Eloy Jiménez. Since being traded Quintana has made his way around the league pitching for five different teams since being acquired by the Chicago Cubs back in 2017. Quintana has pitched for the Pittsburg Pirates, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, San Fransico Giants, and most recently for the team that originally signed him, the New York Mets.
Quintana by the Numbers
Jose Quintana has proven to be a solid pitcher entering his mid 30’s having an ERA less than four since 2022. Quintana has had a solid past two seasons with the New York Mets with 2024 being his best season to have with him now being a free agent. Making 31 starts and taking down 170.1 innings with a record of 10-10, a 3.75 ERA, and with 135 strikeouts Quintana had a solid season for the New York Mets in 2024.
As well as having a solid post-season in which Quintana pitch great in the National League Wild Card and Divisional rounds where he had a 0.00 ERA in 11 innings of work but struggled in the National League Championship Series with having a 13.50 ERA in 3.1 innings pitched against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Why Signing Jose Quintana would be a Smart move for the Chicago White Sox
With the White Sox set to have one of the youngest starting rotations in all of baseball adding a veteran with Quintana’s experience would be a valuable asset for the White Sox to add. Also given that the White Sox currently don’t have a projected lefty starting pitcher to make their Opening Day rotation adding Quintana from that standpoint alone would be smart for the White Sox to do.
Spotrac projects that Jose Quintana will be looking for a three-year contract with a value of $25.136 million with an Average Annual Value of $8.38 million. This is a fair market price for someone of Jose Quintan’s talents given that similar contracts were given out to fellow lefties J.A. Happ, Wade Miley, and the future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw who signed their deals at the same age as Quintana. Being that this is what Quintana is expecting to sign or get on the free agent market won’t work for the Chicago White Sox.
Given that they’re entering another rebuilding stage and with the team trying to play more of their younger player and find cheap players with high upside signing Quintana just wouldn’t be in the cards for the White Sox to do.
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