Jose Quintana Will Cost the Yankees an Arm and a Leg

According to Jon Morosi, the Yankees are interested in potentially acquiring White Sox left-handed starter, Jose Quintana.

Anytime the Yankees even enquire about the availability of a player, let alone a starting pitcher, it’s likely to make front-page headlines. With the report surfacing that the Yankees could indeed be looking into the possibility of reuniting with 27-year-old former farm hand, Jose Quintana, one has to wonder what the White Sox would require in return for his services.

For those having a hard time remembering, Quintana was once a mid-level prospect in the Yankees organization. Having previously gone 10-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts (30 appearances) in 2011 at High-A Tampa, the organization decided to leave him off the 40-man roster. Quintana wound up signing a six-year Minor League deal with Chicago soon after.

Having recently fleeced the Washington Nationals for top pitching prospects Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito — and the Boston Red Sox to a lesser extent in trading Chris Sale for Michael Kopech and Yoan Moncada, it’s safe to say either Clint Frazier, Gleyber Torres, and/or James Kaprielian would be at the top of the Pale Hose’s wish list.

To me, there is no way outside of the White Sox including Jose Abreu and maybe Todd Frazier in a trade, where I would even entertain offering up any of the aforementioned Yankees prospects.

While the Red Sox and Nationals both feel they can win the World Series this coming season, the Yankees need to be realistic – that their window will open in 2018 – when the likes of Frazier, Torres, and Kaprielian are ready to contribute – hopefully alleviating a number of questions marks both on offense and in the rotation.

Now if the White Sox were to ask for lesser prospects – yet one’s that are still highly regarded, even top 10 ranked, then Quintana to the Bronx is much more feasible.

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A trade including Jorge Mateo, Justus Sheffield, and Albert Abreu would be a good starting point for the two teams to build upon. If the White Sox were adamant that the Yankees include Miguel Andujar or Domingo Acevedo, then Brian Cashman would be wise to counter with Todd Frazier and his expiring contract.

Other than that and the Yankees risk ruining much of the progress they made restocking the Minor League system.

This isn’t to say that acquiring Quintana is a bad move. On the contrary, he’s signed through 2020 for $48.5M (the final two seasons of which are team options), so his club friendly controllability is a real asset.

While pitching for a White Sox team that offered up minimal run support last season, Quintana went 13-12, with a 3.20 ERA, 181 strikeouts, and only 50 walks in 208 innings — pitching en route to his first ever All-Star Game appearance.

Over the past five seasons, Quintana has shown a remarkable ability to stay healthy, making a total of 129 starts, more than the likes of Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander, Corey Kluber or Cole Hamels.

It’s no secret that the Yankees severely lack any form of stability behind Masahiro Tanaka in the starting rotation – and should he opt of after the 2017 season, things could look very grim come this time next year.

Adding a consummate innings eater, capable of solidifying the all-important No. 2 spot would go a long way towards not only keeping Tanaka happy and healthy in New York, but also giving the organization time to groom whomever the youngsters are that inevitably fill the backend of the rotation should Michael Pineda again struggle with effectiveness, and with CC Sabathia’s contract expiring next fall.

The one major concern about Quintana is his propensity for allowing the long ball – which he did 22 times in 2016. Pitching half his starts at Yankee Stadium could be disastrous without a tweak or two to his mechanics.

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If the Yankees truly want to add Quintana, a reliable shooter with a career 5.2 WAR, it won’t come cheap. And obviously you have to trade something to get something – I just hope they don’t mortgage a large part of the future for a player who only takes the hill once every five days.