White Sox lefty Jose Quintana is of course a coveted trade target. Starting pitching is always in demand, and Quintana has been consistently very good and healthy, and he’s signed to a contract that’s team-friendly in the extreme. However, because of those merits and because the Sox were able to extract so much long-term value in trades involving Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, the asking price for Quintana is probably quite high. There’s no real urgency for the Sox to move him until closer to the non-waiver trade deadline, so the market has been a bit slow to develop.
The Astros have probably been the team most strongly linked to Quintana, but now Jon Heyman of FanRagSports is here to remind us of another potential landing spot for the 28-year-old hurler ...
While the belief now is that Quintana won’t be traded until closer to the trade deadline, the Cardinals could be a sleeper team for Quintana. Word is, they have quietly showed interest in the White Sox pitching ace, and the Cardinals have the combination of young players and prospects to make it work.
The Cardinals have been linked to Quintana, at least in an on-the-fringes sort of way, for some time. However, after top prospect Alex Reyes was lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, the assumption was that the Cardinals wouldn’t be able to pay the freight for a coveted arm like Quintana. Maybe that’s changing, though.
The Cardinals may be closing in on a contract extension for franchise backstop Yadier Molina. If that comes to pass soon (the start of the regular season is the informal deadline for talks between the two sides), then that may render Carson Kelly expendable. Kelly, widely regarded as the top catching prospect in the game, could then be an appealing part of a package for Quintana. There’s also a lot of pitching depth in the system, and one or two of those arms could be packaged with Kelly and jumpstart some serious discussions. Maybe center field prospect Harrison Bader gets involved, as the Cardinals are committed to Dexter Fowler through 2021 and have multiple high-ceiling center fielders in the lower rungs.
Nothing’s likely imminent, but the Cardinals could wind up as players, especially if injuries or ineffectiveness afflict one or more members of the rotation.
