The New York Yankees are reportedly one of four teams “believed to be dug into the sweepstakes” of Chicago White Sox left-hander, Jose Quintana.
Despite the New York Yankees being three games into spring training baseball, the rumor mill has commenced its spin yet again.
According to Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago, the Yankees are reportedly “dug into the sweepstakes” for 28-year-old left-handed pitcher, Jose Quintana. The Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers are the other three teams involved as the White Sox look to continue its rebuild.
Since breaking into the league at age 23, the southpaw has totaled 951 innings and since 2013, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, R.A. Dickey and David Price are the only pitchers that have pitched in more innings than Quintana.
Additionally, he is the only starter in the American League to toss 200 or more innings in each of the past four seasons. Beyond his rubber arm, he has managed a solid 3.29 ERA in that same time frame and comes with a manageable price of $36.85 million over the next four years.
Levine reports that the expected return for a Quintana trade is all about “the quality of prospects they get in return, not the quantity.” With the production just mentioned above, that’s completely justified and something general manager Rick Hahn has kicked the tires with New York on before.
White Sox had reportedly asked for Luis Severino, Jorge Mateo and one of the organization’s top prospects, Clint Frazier for Quintana back in late December. They also wanted Gary Sanchez in Chris Sale talks during 2016’s trade deadline.
The Yankees would be able to package a bunch of youngsters together for the lefty but there has been a reluctance to deal the upper-tier prospects in the organization. If they want Quintana, the price is steep, and it’s not coming down anytime soon.
