White Sox: Pros and Cons of Not Trading Jose Quintana Until July
By Brian Draus
White Sox still have chance to deal Jose Quintana before start of Spring Training. But if they held onto All-Star pitcher, would it be better than trading him this offseason?
As Jose Quintana’s name continues to come up in trade rumors for the Chicago White Sox, a question needs to be asked. Would it make sense to deal him before the season, or wait until the deadline? Here are the main pros and cons to moving him now, or holding on to him until later.
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Pros
1. The White Sox will get the right deal at the trade deadline.
As of today, the club has yet to receive an offer for Quintana that they feel is acceptable. However, during the middle of a pennant chase it is very possible that a contender could lose one of their top starters due to an injury. Assuming that were to be the case (or if a team were desperate for a starter), a club could give up the farm for Quintana, which isn’t happening at the moment.
2.He is still under contract for four more seasons.
Keep something in mind when talking about dealing Quintana, that being the fact the team still controls him through the end of the 2020 season. He will never make more than $10.5M in any of those seasons, not to mention he also has a $1M buyout for both ’19 and ’20. Another plus when considering this part of the scenario is if they wanted to keep him around for the rebuild they could, however moving him would speed up the process dramatically.
Cons
1. He could underperform, lowering his value.
This is the big concern, as the White Sox brass doesn’t want to move Quintana without getting equal value. Assuming they deal him too early than too late would be the better of the two situations, however keep in mind that hindsight is 20/20 vision. Anytime a team is looking for the right time to move an All-Star pitcher they are rolling the dice a bit, for a multitude of reasons. Therefore, dealing him when he is having a down year is a horrible idea for the White Sox.
2. The longer they wait to deal Quintana, the risk of injury becomes greater.
White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn is in a precarious position right now with Quintana, due to this very factor. Assuming he does get hurt, it is very possible he will never be the same again. In that case, Quintana’s trade value would drop dramatically, which would be a major blow to the club’s rebuild. That is something they cannot afford, as it could set the process back a few years.
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Conclusion
Overall, there really is no right or wrong way to approach Quintana’s trade situation. That is in large part because a player’s value isn’t linear, meaning it can have peaks and valleys. The purpose is to move them at peak value, and a good executive will know when that is. Rick Hahn needs to decide when that is because if he uses poor judgment, it will not be good for the rebuild White Sox fans