6:50 pm: The club has announced both transactions. Quintana will remain under club control for the 2020 season, while Holland has been bought out.
6:25 pm: As expected, the Cubs have exercised their 2020 team option on starter Jose Quintana, as first reported by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (link). The club declined its 2020 team option on hurler Derek Holland.
Quintana’s option for 2020 comes in at $10.5MM, while the club could have paid him a $1MM buyout if it preferred that he walk. The left-hander hasn’t been quite the same pitcher since changing Chicago sides midway through the 2017 season, but a $9.5MM proposition for a mid-to-back-rotation type is still a reasonably palatable option. Quintana’s 4.68 ERA in 2019 was his worst mark since breaking into the league back in 2012, but underlying metrics like FIP (3.80) and BABIP (.326) indicate that he may have been subject to more than his fair share of bad luck last year. Quintana carries a cumulative 4.23 ERA with the Cubs since being acquired from the White Sox in 2017 in exchange for a package headlined by Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease.
Holland carried a $7MM club option for 2020, but the club instead chose to buy him out for $500k. That likely represented an easy pass for Chicago management, as Holland was largely limited to relief in 2020 after a rocky start to the year for San Francisco (the lefty was designated in July and subsequently acquired by Chicago in a minor deal). While Holland has recorded sub-4.00 ERAs as a full-time starting pitcher in 2011, 2013, and 2018, he has pitched to an ERA exceeding 6.00 in two of his last three seasons. The sinkerballer posted a Hard Hit percentage of 42.1% last year according to Statcast, placing him in the bottom 8% of the sport in that category.
To anyone who thought the Cubs would decline…
Paying a hack $10 million.
The one trade I can see happening is
Bryant – Dustin May and a couple of young guys
Dodgers are craving a ring but Rendon is not the type of guy the front office likes to give long offers to.
(They’ve already talked about moving Turner elsewhere so third base is open as well)
They’d like Bryant as a two year rental and the Cubs would love to have some potential top of the rotation talent.
Any team craving a ring and close would be interested bc you can play him in the OF or at 3B. I could see the Braves going in on him. Could even see the Padres rolling the dice as they have a huge surplus of young talent. Any number of AL teams would potentially have an interest too. For almost any contender you basically get a big time two year upgrade at some position. The Cubs could also just say screw it, trade someone like Contreras and keep their own window in theory open for the next two years. They could also trade him at the deadline. Anyone who thinks they won’t find a buyer for him is smoking something. If he is shopped they will a buyer and they’ll get a good return as well.
(Yawn). Now the question becomes, do they trade Q and try to sign Cole? Lester coming off the books after this year plus losing Q, would equal Cole’s salary.
Cubs won’t pay for Cole. Plus, 2021 is a team option with a buyout of $10 million. So you’re essentially stuck with Lester through 2021
They pay Lester $25MM per year. Why wouldn’t they pay Cole?
They won’t pay him because they also pay Darvish $25 million and Kimbrel $15 million.
Bryant and Baez are both going to need new deals before however many years Cole gets on his contract ends too.
I thought Darvish was $21MM?
Darvish is at $21 million.. these guys either are exaggerating or don’t know their facts.
He’ll make $20M this year and $25M next year and he has been money incredibly well spent. Definitely more of an albatross now, but they’d do that same deal 100 times out of 100 given the outcome.
Darvish is not being paid $25m
And you thought correct
Certain people do not like to let the facts get in the way of their b.s.
Probably right, but Cubs have their own Cole coming off the books as well ($20M) plus another $10-12M for Zobrist, and a small handful of relievers all making $3-6M each, and $10-12M for Morrow.
Cubs still have terrible contracts on the books for Heyward and Darvish, not to mention big $ to Lester and Kimbrel, so I doubt they’re gonna rush into another mega-contracf w Cole, but he’s the type of player they should have waited and gone all-in on.
They could do it, but I would be suprised to see Ricketts sign off on it unless Theo moves some money around.
I do expect Quintana’s money to be traded away but only if they can get fair value in return- he’s really underachieved on the North Side.
Cubs could potentially be moving @ $50-60M off the books this winter (not counting arb raises and salary increases/decreases).
The problem is, the Cubs aren’t Gerrit Cole from being a WS champ. They are going to need to spend money on the bullpen.
If Darvish continues to perform like this year, there’s nothing terrible about his contract. He earned $20MM this year. Wish Happ had pitched like that to earn his $17+MM
You don’t value money correctly. You value money like a cubs fan
Better to go after Bumgarner which fills a similar role as Hamels did. Bumgarner actually might be cheaper than 20M as well.
Oh Greg can you elaborate oh wise one. Explain to us how Mo4ever is wrong with something other than some insult to him. Give us your analysis if you have the ability
OK. Sure. If you have Cole, Darvish, Hendricks, Quintana and Lester as your opening day rotation you are by definition a contender. The Nats just won a World Series with a bullpen that was held together by bubble gum most of the season. Have some friggin’ imagination. Now the Cubs are almost certainly not going to sign Cole. But if they did they’d absolutely be a big time contender.
Getting Cole would be like buying a stock at its highest value. You could get 2 very good pitchers for what you would have to pay him. Trade Bryant for another pitcher, sign Castellanos and keep the rest in tact for now and they are still a 95 – 98 win team.
Cole was poor his last few years with the Pirates. The Astros and the way they handle pitchers revived him (as they did Verlander, Morton, and others).
The man is going to get a minimum of 6 years, probably more. If he’s another Schurzer, that’s great. But thus far, Max is the outlier. If we look at the Cubs pitching staff, they do the Epstein thing of overpaying for pitching free agents that come over and don’t perform as well as expected (happened in Boston as well). Even when they get an Arrieta going, he has a few good years and heads downhill. So the idea that Cole will be a Max for 6-9 years is very probably wishful thinking.
Bottom line – teams that can develop and maintain pitchers will continue to compete. Those include organizations such as the Astros, Rays, and Indians….who take so-so pitchers and get them to perform. The Yankees recognized the need to do this, and are revamping their pitching approach. Teams such as the A’s and Brewers have also been very good; Giants and Cardinals at times. New pitching coaches with the Twins and Reds had a large impact this past year.
When discussing the signing of FA pitchers it’s best to use the stock market tippers disclaimer – “Past performance is no guarantee of future results”.
An organizations approach to pitching and the quality of their staff is far more important then looking at a pitchers recent statistics…..and nowhere is that truer then with relief pitchers from year to year.
A 95-98 win team probably doesn’t win the WS
The cardinals won in 2006 with 83 wins.
And..? That’s called an outlier.
Cleveland missed the playoffs with 93 wins this year…
You just described like 99% of all starting pitchers in baseball. Good for a few years and then they decline. Lester has been a great signing for them. Not good, GREAT. They’d do that deal 1000 times over again. They have to retool their team and they knew full well when they signed him that he’d be an overpay the last couple of years. That signing has been one of the best FA signings any team has done in the last 4 years.
He;’s won over 75 games for them while never pitching less than 170 innings.
They should be looking to eat some of the salaries on these players and move them this year. They have to retool the team. But its hardly like they are dealing from a position of insane weakness.
Washington just won with 93 wins.
Cleveland missed so what? Nationals won the world series with the same 93 win regular season. Giants have won several times with under the 95-98 range as well
So what..?
Nobody said a team couldn’t win the World Series with a relatively low win total. All he said was a 95-98 win team PROBABLY wouldn’t win a World Series, meaning the odds wouldn’t be in their favor. That is correct.
These next few seasons will be interesting for the cubs. Bryant, Baez, Contreras, Schwarber, Rizzo, Hendricks will not be cheap to keep that core together
Hendricks already extended, Rizzo and Schwarber won’t cost much if they decide to keep them. Bryant should be traded, so that leaves Baez and Contreras. If the cubs are smart, they pay Baez and trade Contreras.
Dude…I really can’t stand most of your comments…BUT you are spot on here. That is literally the most accurate thing you have ever said about the Cubs in 2 years.
Or the only fact that you agree with…
Riizzo has a career OPS+ of 130 and hasn’t been below 120 in years. He was 137 last year. He won’t be cheap for anyone.
If the Cubs are smart they trade 3B Kris Bryant for a controllable TOR pitcher and then take the extension money he won’t accept and use that to help sign free agent 3B Anthony Rendon. With that ace in hand the Cubs can then consider trading SP Jose Quintana (the White Sox would be a good fit) while also exploring trades for CF Albert Almora, OF Ian Happ and perhaps OF/DH Kyle Schwarber (another good fit on the southside of Chicago) while hanging on to SS Javier Baez and C Wilson Contreras.
The Cubs will fizzle out of this championship window, starting…. Now.
They’ll keep the band together even though major changes are needed. Q, Lester, and Bryant should’ve been dealt yesterday but Theo doesn’t know how to sell high and buy low.
Many will say Q and Lester were not sell high candidates coming off last season but just wait to you see how they perform in 2020.
Next year will be painful considering how much better everyone else in the Central is getting.
Theo doesn’t know how to sell high and buy low?
Henricks and Villanueva for Dempster.
Arrieta and Strop for Feldman and Clevenger
Edwards, Grimm, Olt, and Ramierz for Garza
Russell, McKinney and Straily for Hammel and Shark
You’re right, he doesn’t know how to sell high and buy low.
@ CMurphy…
You forgot Rizzo for Cashner and
Fowler for Valbuena
Montgomery for Vogelbach
Without trying that just named a third of the championship team—-acquired via trade. (And actually Hammel came back to be in that rotation)
Murph, that was great for 2016 but all the Cubs have left on your list is Hendricks plus Wieck for Edwards. Theo has to come thru this offseason.
Yes, Rizzo will be around for two more years. Kemp (26th man) for Montgomery.
The point was that Theo knows how to trade. Yes, some trades and signings have not worked out the best, happens to the best of teams.
@mike127, I was just naming a few, thanks for adding to the list.
@ rayrayner, still to be seen whether Russell (doubt it and hope not) and/or Strop will be resigned. Rizzo will probably sign a new contract, he should be earning more than the team-friendly one he signed years ago.
Rizzo isnt going anywhere he’s said he wants stay with the Cubs the rest of his career as did Baez. So the cubs will play them whatever they want basically. And Contreras won’t leave either. Bryant should be traded next winter. It would very stupid to trade him now.
True enough. Theo was also the guy who dealt DJ LeMahieu for Ian Stewart and Tommy La Stella for some 27-year old minor league reliever who didn’t even pitch last season. He also traded away two generational impact prospect position player talents in Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jimenez and a potential TOR in Dylan Cease for a rental reliever and an underperforming SP. Theo also dealt slugger Jorge Soler for another rental reliever. He’s also had more FA signings bite him in the butt than not, especially when it comes to pitching which he pretty much ignored in his June Drafts. Just saying…
Remind me again what happened when the Cubs traded Gleybar Torres? Didn’t they win the World Series? How many have the Yankees won with Torres in their lineup? I don’t see any rings for him yet. . Make no mistake, Chapman was a huge horse for them that season. That trade was an A+++++++++++++ for the Cubs. Soler was dealt for a guy who was the Cubs player of the year in 2017. Their MVP. And they went all the way to the NLCS. That trade was also a success for them. Quit trying to view trades in long term vacuums. That isn’t how trades work.. The aim of each team is always different in a trade. If the Cubs, say, trade Kris Bryant this offseason and get two prospects who are core parts of their future while still being in contention for the playoffs all year it will be mission accomplished for them. If the team they trade him to goes on to a great two year run and contend for the Series it will be mission accommplished for them too.
Anyone who thinks Theo has a bad track record needs their head examined. All GM’s have their duds. All of them. But The.o also has more than his fair share of fleeces. Rizzo for Casher? Arrieta and Strop for Feldman? Addy Russell for a rental who the Cubs then brought back? Valbuena for Fowler? Those were all great trades. Rizzo has been a central piece on a contending team. Arrieta won the Cy Young and was a huge part of a WS winning team. Fowler was huge for them. And Russell was an enormous part of their playoff run in 2016 – no Russell no series win over LA or Cleveland. His homers in LA and his granny in Game 6 were both huge for that run. So yeah, those trades were all GREAT. in terms of the ultimate return the franchise received.
As for Jimenez and Cease. The returns for the White Sox remain to be fully seen. I personally think Jimenez will be very solid. But he is also the type of player that is available for many teams. He isn’t a plus fielder, he can’t run. He’s a very good power hitter who eventually could be a +130 OPS type of player.. Cease will end up being the key to that trade. Would you trade two really good prospects for a sure fire #3 starter on a team firmly in their window who had a really reasonable contract? Of course you would. It has been a long time since any team repeated as WS champs in baseball. This Cubs team has had a really good run with three straight NLCS runs, a WS title and 4 straight playoff births. Are you really going to argue the FO did a poor job building a competitor?
Give us all one possible trade involving Bryant…we’ll wait….
I could see plenty of teams who think they are close wanting Bryant for two more years assuming he does not win his grievance (which he shouldn’t). Any trade, however, hinges on what happens with some of the Free Agent players. Depending on what happens with Donaldson and Rendon I could see Bryant going to the Braves. I could see him going to the Padres. I could see him going to the Dodgers and I could see him going to several teams in the AL. I could also see the Cubs keeping him knowing he’ll leave in free agency and looking to trade other pieces of the roster. The fact he can be moved to the OF doesn’t hurt his trade value either.
Kris Bryant and Albert Almora to the Mets for Noah Syndergaard and one of NY’s extra lefty bats (Conforto, Nimmo, McNeil, Cano). Take the extension dollars that Bryant refused and use them to help sign FA Anthony Rendon.
Bryant and Quintana to the Braves for Riley or Camargo and two of their young pitchers (one in the MLB and one in their farm system). The Cubs farm system is shot! No pitchers to come up to pitch in the bullpen.
Ejemp2006…Must be fun to play with your super-powers of hindsight and future performances. How is it that you’re just commenting on baseball rumor sites instead of running a team?
“How is it that you’re just commenting on baseball rumor sites instead of running a team?”
Applies to all of us?
Oh so “many claimed” Lester and Q were not sell high candidates … hahaha laughing at you
Cole is headed to the Angels. Just as with Lester, Joe is rewarded with an ace after taking Angel job.
So the angels will become the cubs west
Anaheim Angels vs Chicago Cubs world series 2020.
I’d bet heavily against that.
Yes! Perhaps the Angels will even consider training on Catalina Island next spring.
Holland should give the NPB a whirl
Hes a goofball. When he was a ranger he was more worried about be clubhouse clown than being productive.
He tried that on the southside of Chicago as well but the White Sox already had Yolmer Sanchez in that role.
$11.5mm for a solid #5 innings eater is a pretty good deal
What a world we live in when people make that statement with a straight face.
Hopefully he was being sarcastic, but it is chitown311 we are talking about here…
Fingers crossed.
I remember Braves fans dying to have Quintana on the team, that he was a pitching god, and that we should give up the farm for him few years back. That and Tehran was done for and worthless. I’m not saying Tehran incredible but he ended up being pretty ok and Quintana was a huge disappointment for the Cub honestly. Glad we didn’t get him. Time for the Braves to move on from Tehran though.
Oh Lordy——Sounds like Holland will be Low Hanging Fruit once more for John Mozeliak and the Cardinals. Hope John has gotten a little wiser this time!! However, I noticed today that Mozeliak added Bret Cecil to the 40 man Cardinal roster. Kuhn must had had his “Duh” hat on when he did that!!!!!
Bret Cecil was on the 60 day IL and therefore was required to be added back to the 40 man roster for the off-season.
What can the Cubs get for Bryant realistically?
Nothing until his service time grievance is settled (hopefully within a month).
deGrom and a top 50 prospect. Just to start talks
Ha. Yeah let me trade my ace, and a top 50 prospect for a 3b/LF that will make $20mm this year and even more next year. Unless the arbitrators rule in his favor, then he is a FA after this coming season. I think your seeming your sights too high on this one.
Yes, and a recently extended controllable ace in Jacob deGrom as well for a third baseman with (maybe) two more years of expensive arbitration control. Bryant would be a great get for the Mets but Noah Syndergaard and his own two years of arb control would be a more sensible return offer along with that top-50 prospect.
Cubs don’t gave a top 50 prospect. Maybe Bryant/Amaya for Thor. Hate to burst some bubbles here but Bryant has not been as good for 2 subsequent years and is extremely expensive.
Bryant’s numbers have been declining since his fluke MVP season in 2016. Bryant being a Cub to hitting most of his home runs off a terrible Reds’ pitching staff that broke records that year with giving up the long ball, and having Dexter Fowler batting in front of him to get better pitchers where Bryant struggled that year when Fowler went on the DL. Bryant to the Braves for Camargo or Riley for one of two pitchers in the Braves’ system sounds like a reasonable move for the Cubs. Bryant will strive batting in that Braves’ line up of Acuna, Albies and Freeman.
You can say the same about Thor
Bryant is not getting deGrom and top 50 prospect to boot!!
Mistake!!
Hopefully they just did this to unload him in a trade otherwise it makes zero sense. The team still has no legitimate #1 or 2, and now has even less money to go shopping. Darvish and Hendricks could each be considered a solid #3 , but Lester has nothing left which equals a pretty weak rotation. Only a serious trade involving Bryant or Baez would bring back a young solid arm but those trades are unlikely now and nobody wants to see Javy leave town. Their best chance is to sign Bumgarner to fill the hole left by Hamels and hope the offense is good enough. Doesn’t look promising so far. I thought Ross was a bad choice for manager and now this…smh
You know nothing.
Enlighten us. Tell us something we don’t know. I know nothing, please illustrate how much smarter you are. Waiting.
Megaj I guess he is still working on it!
Darvish and Hendricks could each be considered a solid #3 , but Lester has nothing left which equals a pretty weak rotation.
————————————————————-
1-Darvish & Hendricks have RA+ of 112 and 129. Assuming 100 is exactly league average, and assuming that the standard #3 is exactly league average, wouldn’t both of them be more like #2s?
2-FWIW, the Cubs rotation finished #6 in the NL in ERA, which again is a bit above average.
Yes, I agree, Joe. Lester probably a 4 and Q a three. They do have options in-house for #5 that may turn out better than that slot.
Sixth best ERA in the NL? Whooopity-do. Is that supposed to mean something? cubs fans will use any stat they can find to justify liking the cubs’ roster, no matter how terrible they are in reality. The cubs look below average on the field. You should trust your eyes more than any stats. You see how bad they look when Javy is hurt or playing at less than 100%? That’s the cubs. Don’t even get me started with Rizzo.
Its a bargain at $10M for a guy that makes every start, every year and never goes on the DL.
So poor performance is worth 10 million bucks as long as you are not hurt? Great argument. NEXT
Not sure soft tossing is an accurate description for Holland. I usually use that term for guys in the mid 80’s.
Great decision to pick up the option for Q
From my understanding, the Ricketts want the payroll under the luxury tax threshold in 2020 and as of right now it looks like it will be under the $208 million. The Cubs are rebuild mode and not going out to spend money on Bumgarner or Cole or Strasburg.
Oh the Cubs are in rebuild mode?
The Cubs have absolutely nothing in their farm system to an aging pitching staff to having a few bad contracts and having to pay a few guys in two years. If you believe Ross is the guy to lead the Cubs into the World Series then you must not realize the Ricketts don’t care any more. The Ricketts bought the Cubs’ fans their World Series and all they care about is that tv deal.
That creep can roll, man.
Bad idea on Quintana. What are they thinking?!??!?
No one is surprised at Holland and Quintana is giving the cubs more of the same really. Slightly worse than last year, but all in all he is the same player he has always been. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you want to have a long standing dynasty you have to be able to farm something in house. Whether it be top offensive talent or pitching one of the two. The cardinals farm pitching very successfully in house. Without having disastrous seasons for 5 years in a row. The Cubs have to learn how to farm one of the two. You can’t spend 25m/y on 5 pitchers and still expect to have the best offensive names out there as well because they cost a lot of money too.