Chicago White Sox: Jose Quintana is surprisingly headed out west

Jose Quintana is surprisingly headed out west to play for the Los Angeles Angels.

The Chicago White Sox had a lot of good years with Jose Quintana. He was, at times, an All-Star pitcher for the Sox but they weren’t very good around him. Chris Sale and Jose Quintana were a great 1-2 punch in the AL Central for many years but beyond them was a lot of bad. A lot of loss is associated with that era of White Sox baseball. For that reason alone, it is fair to be happy that he is not coming back.

Reports on Tuesday night confirmed that he is headed out west to play for the Los Angeles Angels. That is a curious decision and not one many people really saw coming. They need pitching (amongst many other things) but it wasn’t like they are pushing hard for him publically. There have been more rumors connecting Trevor Bauer to the Angels and he is a much more significant MLB pitcher as the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner.

Of course, Jose Quintana will forever be looked at in a positive light on the South Side of Chicago. He was a good pitcher for them but that is hardly the reason. He was traded away to the Chicago Cubs in what is one of the most lopsided trades in the history of either team and it was in favor of the White Sox. The Sox received Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and two other prospects in return for Quintana.

Quintana went to the Cubs and was either okay or bad, depending on who you ask. As for the White Sox, Jimenez is one of the very best young power hitters in the world. He came in as polished of a hitter as any Sox prospect ever. Dylan Cease has nasty stuff but he is still working on his control. He is a few starts away from breaking out. The Cubs don’t develop pitching nearly as good as the White Sox but they would love to have Dylan Cease on the come up right now. Instead, they got a few years of mediocre Jose Quintana.

There are some people that wanted/believed that the White Sox would bring Quintana back. It is a fair thought but it is for the best that they didn’t. Going backwards is already something they have been known to do (Adam Eaton) but this time it is good that they didn’t. He wasn’t very good after leaving to go to the Cubs and he probably isn’t getting much better.

It would be much more fun seeing guys like Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, or Garrett Crochet get the opportunity to be the fourth or fifth starter. Quintana will go to Los Angeles and he might have a good year but the Angels probably aren’t going anywhere. They have the best player in the world in Mike Trout but they underwhelm every year. Quintana was a great pitcher for the Sox and he landed them two studs but it is good that they have not brought him back.