Cubs acquire Quintana from White Sox in 5-player deal
One of the biggest names on the trade block is on the move, and he isn't going far.
The Chicago White Sox dealt left-hander Jose Quintana to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday in exchange for four players: outfielder Eloy Jimenez, right-hander Dylan Cease, first baseman Matt Rose, and infielder Bryant Flete, the teams announced.
"It is always extremely difficult to trade a person and player like Jose Quintana," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said, according to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. "But difficult as it was, this deal moves us closer to our goal of building a team capable of contending for multiple championships over an extended period of time."
The move by the defending World Series champions shows they're serious about a repeat, having made a deal for the ace without trading away any major-league talent.
The Cubs sit 5 1/2 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and their rotation has not pitched nearly as well as last season.
| SEASON | IP | ERA | OPP AVG | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 989 | 2.96 | .213 | 1.07 |
| 2017 | 473 | 4.66 | .259 | 1.37 |
The 28-year-old Quintana should help. He joins a Cubs staff that already features Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, as well as John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks, who are sidelined with injuries.
Quintana, a 2016 All-Star, is 4-8 with a 4.49 ERA across 18 starts this season, but he's been one of the most dependable starters in baseball since debuting in 2012. He's also under team control until 2020 and is set to earn the remainder of $7 million this season.
Over the course of six big-league seasons, the Colombian owns a 50-54 record with a 3.51 ERA across 172 appearances, 169 of which have been starts.
Jimenez and Cease were the Cubs' top two prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, and will be added to a White Sox farm system that is already stacked after offseason deals with the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox.
Jimenez, a 20-year-old from the Dominican Republic, was hitting .271/.351/.490 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs at Single-A Advanced Myrtle Beach, while Cease owned a 3.14 ERA and a rate of 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings at Single-A South Bend.
Neither Rose or Flete were among the Cubs' top 30 prospects.