The Pirates have agreed to a deal with left-hander Jose Quintana, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link). MLB Network’s Jon Heyman adds that Quintana’s contract is a one-year, Major League pact, and Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Quintana will earn around $2MM (both links to Twitter). The signing will become official once Quintana passes a physical. Quintana is represented by the Wasserman Agency.
Quintana was one of the more durable and generally solid starters in baseball from 2012-19, when the southpaw pitched for the White Sox and Cubs. However, thumb injuries and lat inflammation limited Quintana to only 10 innings for the Cubs in 2020, and he also spent about three weeks on the injured list this past season due to shoulder inflammation. That IL stint was only one of the issues Quintana faced in 2021, after he signed a one-year, $8MM deal with the Angels last winter.
The left-hander had only a 6.75 ERA over 53 1/3 innings in Anaheim, and then a 4.66 ERA over 9 2/3 innings with the Giants after being claimed off waivers at the end of August. It all worked out to a 6.43 ERA as a whole over 63 frames, though Quintana’s SIERA (3.94) and xFIP (3.75) were more than respectable. A 3.78 BABIP may be the standout statistic in that regard, as Quintana received very little help from the Angels’ poor defense.
Batted-ball luck wasn’t the only culprit to blame for Quintana’s numbers, however. He allowed a ton of hard contact and his 11.8% walk rate was easily the highest of his career. On the flip side, Quintana’s 28.6% strikeout rate was also the highest of his career, and his whiff rate was well above the league average. Quintana was also quite a bit more effective as a reliever than as a starter last year, as the Angels moved him to the bullpen in the wake of his rotation struggles. This could hint at a new direction for Quintana as he enters his age-33 season, or at least a fallback option for the Pirates if Quintana doesn’t produce as a starter.
Given Pittsburgh’s need for starting pitching, it seems likely that the Bucs will use Quintana in their rotation to begin the year and hope that he can regain some of his pre-2020 form as a reliable innings-eater. The Pirates don’t have much big league experience in their projected starting five, and the team surely wants to avoid a repeat of 2021, when a plethora of injuries and trades resulted in the Bucs having to dig deep into their depth chart to cover starts. Should Quintana pitch well, Pittsburgh could also dangle him as a trade chip at the deadline.
Carlos Quintana will sign next
Pirates new ace pitcher. Sad part is this guy hasn’t even been that great for awhile now. I’d imagine he came cheap. I do like Bryse Wilson for the Pirates as well. I think he was a nice return for Pittsburgh in the Rich Rodrogues trade.
He got a $2 mil, one-year deal for that performance. God bless America.
His advanced stats are much more favorable, but how good is the pirates defense compared to the angels? So I wouldn’t expect a huge drop in his regular statistics, but I’d imagine somewhere in the middle between giants and angles numbers
Not a bad pitcher, but I’d never expect sub 3 era out of him ever again
The Pirates have a better defense than the Angels. Tyler Anderson had bad stats too when they signed him to a bare bones deal. I guess theyre hoping for the same thing with Quintana. I’m not – i think Quintana is toast.
Time to loosen up the ole pitching arm! Heck, I can throw strikes, AND walk people! I can do it for half that!
“The left-hander had only a 6.75 ERA”
I’m not used to seeing sarcasm in articles posted here.
ripper – If his advanced stats are favorable yet he still gives up runs and loses games, that makes those advanced stats irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what his spin rate is if it doesn’t prevent runs from scoring. Quintana is not how you make your team better.
Pirates had 3 gold glove finalist…..so most likely much better than the halos
I felt a lot better about Tyler Anderson. He has had all solid seasons besides 1. I like Quintana the same as I did last year. I thought 8 million was a over pay by double at least. I like 2 million. You can’t buy much for 2 million in free agency. I like the advance numbers. Fix the control. Weaker division. Better defensive team. Better luck. I can see a under 5 era.
Anything for Rich Rod was good. The prospect or Wilson. Both was really good haul.
I don’t think anyone is expecting a sub 3.00 era.
First off, couldn’t agree more with your handle. Secondly, about 7 years ago Neal Huntington almost gave the Chris archer haul to the Sox for him, but he was ultimately dealt to the Cubs. I don’t hate this deal at all, kinda reminds me of the bucs deal for Liriano in 2013. High upside, at the very worst flip at the deadline
I called it. This will be, unfortunately for us Pirates fans, the highlight of the off-season.
Y’all still gotta bring back Yoshi. That’ll be a relatively exciting move.
I can still see another 1.5 million signing. Maybe even 2 or 2.5
“This is a great move” — me, in 2018.
I’m sure PIT is signing him to a modest 1-year deal in hopes he has a bounce back first half so they can flip him by the deadline. Good luck with that. Quintana hasn’t been effective for 2-3 years now.
Watch him shine with Pittsburgh then flop with the team he’s traded to.
Quintana will have no trade value. He is there to eat some innings in their rotation especially to start the season.
This is about as cheap as they’ll be able to sign an established FA starter to a major league deal too.
Guy’s been below replacement level for a while, when he wasn’t hurt. Should fit right in with the Pirates.
He’s just there to eat innings. The Bucs have a couple actual promising arms who arent ready for a full season. Nobody in the current rotation can even throw 4+ innings. Its the most embarrassing unit in all of baseball if you don’t look at the waiver wire trash they assembled on either side of Reynolds in the outfield in 2021. Anyway, if Quintana can throw 6 innings/week and keep the ERA under 5, that’s good enough for me.
He hasn’t been very good but he’s only been sub replacement one year
Call me when he learns to work the count
I’m getting some AJ Burnett vibes here
We wish.
Don’t think he has the same veteran edge that Burnett had, and honestly the Pirates need some of that. Sign Burnett as a bench coach lol
I can dream he is AJ part 2. Unfortunately I find myself wondering if AJ himself might be a better pickup right now.
Maybe Francisco Liriano 2.0
I’m thinking this isn’t one of those multi-year nine figure signings with opts outs after year 3 and 4?
He sucks -Angels fan
And the White Sox continue to win the Quintana for Eloy/Cease trade.
Q is a Cubs killer though.
Cubbies hate to see him back in NL Central.
As a White Sox fan, the Cubs got revenge by stealing our 2nd baseman and a live BP arm for Kimbrel. That shortened the Sox window considerably, and the Cubs will love having Nicky Two Strikes for a long time.
You know you loved the Kimbrel trade when it happened…
Nobody just regains strength in their shoulder somehow. It doesn’t come back
Better off giving a rule 5 starter or minor league guy a shot
You could get Corey Oswalt or any # of other younger pitchers without shoulder weakness
Almost 10 out of 10 times this type of signing the guy has a 6 era in June and he’s waived
A lot of young borderline AAAA starters never get a fair shot. If you give a couple a rotation spot you at least have a chance
@ Camden453;
Where the Pirates are in their rebuild a veteran like Quintana is brought in to eat some innings; but mostly to provide a presence to the young staff. He’ll be a sounding board for the youngsters, show how to prepare for a game, handle themselves when getting lit up, etc. He wasn’t signed for his stats.
There will be other additions this offseason as well as in the 2022 season. Plenty of guys will have shots. Last year the Pirates had 33 pitchers throw for them – in line with what most teams use today.
Good point. Should have been signed as a pitching coach.
@ formerdraftpick;
You sure know a lot about building teams.
If the Pirates don’t sign Scherzer, Ray, and Gausman due to Nutting’s cheapness, then this rebuild will fall flat….and they ought to pick up Correa and Seager as well – one can play 2B.
@Samuel
I didn’t say anything like that. Those were all your words.
I’m sorry I challenged your opinion, you felt belittled by me not respecting it, and not understanding that your thoughts are the only ones that matter. I can understand if that happens a lot.
Good luck with building your team. I’m sure you’ll do great this year because you know a lot about building teams. Maybe even more than a lot.
K
They need arms. They can’t sign five guaranteed mid rotation guys. This is a good move. Depth, veteran presence, roll of the dice, whatever.
You guys need to settle down. It’s a 1 year $2m deal. If he’s mediocre you cut him in August and nobody cares, if he’s even remotely playable you flip him for a lottery ticket prospect at the deadline. If he someone recaptures it (wouldn’t be the first retread to get rejuvenated in the Steel City), you flip him for a decent prospect at the deadline. There really isn’t a downside here other than $2m of someone else’s money. Money only matters if it prevents other things, which isn’t the case here.
Exactly
Jeez this guy was the next Randy Johnson. Now he stinks. Phillies should take a cue and dump Hoskins while the iron is hot
Correlation? I think not!
Both LHP, so there you have it.
No one thought he was going to be the next Randy Johnson.
Next Randy Johnson? No. Maybe next Randy Jones.
The next Randy Johnson? I think not. No one ever said that.
so did Rhys cut you off on the freeway or something?
I feel sorry for Pittsburgh, the team is down to digging up corpses.
Can we please start a gofundme for the team.
Bob Nutting loves the hell outta that idea.
I feel sorry for Yankees fans. They’ll overspend on free agents again, and again get the hopes soaring for a Yankees series run….and again be frustrated by the penny pinching Rays as they finish ahead of them again.
It’ll be interesting to see if Steinbrenner bends to the fan pressure in NY. I hope he directs Cashman to blow past the CBT and trade away the last quality prospects in their system. Plunging the Yankees into the abyss for years to come! (Evil Laugh)
Pirates sure got the best in trades with the Yankees….speaking of corpses….the Yankees have a lot of them
And the Yankees were going to offer Verlander 25 million….that’s why the Yankees suck….throwing good money down the toilet…think before you post your crap
if only the pirates had 25 million.
If only Pittsburgh had 10 million people and 2 billion rats, then maybe they would spend in the deep end. On second thought….. no, actually.
at least we are not still using AOL dial-up. like piss poor Pirate fans
What’s that the 10 million payroll Rays owned the Yankees another year? Shocker….
What’s that the Yankees traded away 2 of the Pirate’s now top prospects for TAILLON?? Classic Yankees…. Spend and don’t win. At least the Pirates don’t waste 20 million on a absent minded (insert position here).
Eh, why not. No harm in it. Maybe he can be what they got in Tyler Anderson. Back of the rotation lefty.
Except with Anderson and the Pirates,he was a front of the rotation pitcher.He was their ace.I wish that they would bring him back.
Wow. Dude was horrible last year.
Nutting again will spend less on payroll than he receives in revenue sharing.
Sad. He profits while a great sports city suffers.
You call Anaheim a great sports city????? You ownership and front office needs to…well…
If only reading comprehension was a thing.
If it was then you could pitch for the angels
3.78 BABIP must be some sort of record! I’m guessing some regression to the mean is due.
.378?
That’s literally impossibly high.
Good no risk move for them to take. I could see a nice bounce back happening which turns into a nice deadline piece considering some of the offenses in that division.
Every team need a LHP who can pass a physical, throw 60′ 6″ and work for a measley $2 Mill
The idea Quintana will be a hot item at the trade deadline is hilarious. G’s couldn’t fix this chump, I doubt the Pirates will.
“Coop” could “fix him”!!!
Eh, he’s there to eat innings in April and May. The Pirates probably figure if he bounces back, awesome; and if he doesn’t, no harm. I don’t know if they have any young pitching on the cusp of the Bigs, but those guys don’t toss 200 innings anyway. It’s not exciting, but the move serves a purpose.
Their top pitching prospects are in AA or A….while their bats are a bit closer. Maybe not 100 losses again but probably in the mid/upper 90s.
Yajure and Contreras made their MLB debut, and arent ready for a full season load. Both have really good stuff and will be pitching with the Pirates in 2022.
Good landing spot wise for Quintana opportunity wise.
A positive spin. Anyone who signs with the Pirates knows it’s only to reestablish their value, not for the playoffs and as a Pirates fan I’m ok with that….. for now.
I see lot of naysayers re Quintana’s signing . . . But his work in SF really wasn’t that bad. I think he may surprise Pirate fans—perhaps as a sometime starter and in long (3 innings) relief.
Agreed, Pete’sView. Just looked over his 2021 season. He had a dreadful April, a decent May, a good June, a decent July, a good August and a poor September. His stats were much improved after the All Star break due to the awful April. His splits also reveal that he was poor as a starter, but good as a reliever. That too is due to the awful April when he was starting. This was a good low-risk signing.
Not to mention the Velo is there. He’s right in line with his 4 year average, and only down a tick from his peak. Given the shitshow Anaheim calls pitching and defense, I’m willing to give Quintana a shot, especially on a rebuilding Buccos squad.
85 K’s in 63 innings. Something was working for him.
Quintana pitched in 29 games, including 10 starts. If you set aside Quintana’s 4 worst games, all of which were starts, he pitched to a 4.25 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. That’s quite a bit better than his overall stats of 6.43 ERA and 1.73 WHIP and makes his season look deceivingly bad. He clearly had much greater success after April, and as a reliever. In fact, 3 of the 4 bad starts occurred in his first 5 starts. The man had a slow start. It happens. Quintana has a career record of 83-80 with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. I’m happy he is getting a chance to rebound in Pittsburgh (pitcher’s park, good defense).
$2 million to pitch terribly and be relegated to the bullpen.
You are missing the potential upside. If Quintana gives them average numbers, he’s worth the $2M. If he surpasses expectations (which I believe he will), he’s a bargain (and THAT might get him flipped at the deadline).
The potential upside is that he will give up hits and inflate the stats of the opposition. In turn, those opposing players will get higher salaries in arbitration and free agency.
Meanwhile you guys are playing rotisserie baseball in 2022, Cherington & Company are working on a long term rebuild.
You guys sound like Jays fans in 2017.
@ScottW…Nobody is “relegated” to the bullpen anymore. The bullpen is more important than ever. This is a guy who could be an opener. He’ll also eat innings as a middle reliever and may be a starter too. The Bucs don’t have a single starter who is projected (steamer) to pitch 150 innings. He can help this club.
Smart move by the Pirates because if he can be decent he can be traded for a lower level prospect and if he’s a bust they will cut him no problem. Either way he won’t be a Pirate by August 1st.
Good pickup for Pittsburgh.
If he comes back to form, this is genius. Cherington is a pretty smart guy
Watch him be great against the Cubs and lousy against everyone else.
The Pirates have had luck with Pitchers trying to get back on track. However, Ray Searage is no longer the pitching coach…
The Pirates? Is that still a thing? LMAO
Yes
Never too early to start the dumpster dives. Nutting thinks this will steal the headlines from the Penguins being sold to John Henry’s Fenway Group.
The only surprise is how early Jose signed with the Pirates. I would’ve expected a signing like this after Jan. 1st.
Pirates have 2 rotation spots, a pitchers park and GG catcher (plus a great overall defense).
Pirates actually have the leverage w fringe starters looking to bounce back.
I’ve heard about this guy. Pretty useful. How did the Cubs get him in the first place? Was it some sort of trade or auction, forget the details. Hope they didn’t get up much, since he’s now with a Cub rival.
I’m surprised the lowly Cubbies didn’t try to re-sign Q!
Cubs have no chance to compete for playoffs anytime soon and can use an innings eater, too!
He was actually better last year for the giants that the era looks, he had one bad outing and the game was gone so he was left there to right his own ship and in limited innings with the giants it kind of inflated the numbers. There were a couple times out of the pen that he looked like the old Quintana, we’ll see if he can retain that or if it backslides.
So who’s going to get cut from the 40 man to make space?
Ponce
You know the career has come full circle when you sign with the Pirates.
The pirates signed him because they think he will be decent. They have 11 starting pitchers on their 40 man so the last thing they needed is just a innings eater.
This is a guy that weakens as the game goes on. He’s probably a one to two inning man now. Not a starter. If he’s healthy and used as a lefty reliever Pirates can get a prospect at the deadline.
Agree with the 2nd point, this is about recouping value on a down year in the hopes of turning him into something valuable at the deadline. I think they try whatever they can to turn 2 mil into a prospect. The better Quintana pitches, the better the return. This is a pure upside play, and let’s not pretend 2 mil is anything but chump change for a MLB team. The qualifying offer this year was almost 20 mil for chrissakes.
Having seen him pitch a number of times now, I’m at a loss as to how anyone is calling his speed as being in line with average MLB pitchers. He’s an off speed, movement ball pitcher that the Pirates missed getting around the time of the Archer trade. But hey, the price was right at this time.
I understand the need to fill out the starting rotation with some inexpensive MLB “talent” to bide time as the kids get their time in at the minor league level. But you just lost 100 games. No matter who you sign, you’ll be in that range again this—and possibly next—year. And you’re not going to draw crowds unless you’re in contention
Beyond another starter, save the money and invest in scouting and developing the kids
FB Velo was 91.6 according to Fangraphs, which is about average for him the last 4 years. You can make a lot of arguments about why he was lit up so much last year, but Velo isn’t one.
Thanks. Did not know that. Maybe I caught him on starts where he simply wasn’t featuring his fastball much. In any case, he’s an upgrade
I don’t know what I was expecting when I opened Quintana’s player page, but he only really had one “down” year, and 2020 was an injury year. Tons of peripheral stats say he’s got a chance. His velo is stable and in line with 2018-now, and even that is only down 1 MPH from his peak.
Get him out of Anaheim, put a defense behind him and see what he can do.
Few years too late. should’ve gotten him back when he was with the Sox to help with that window the pirates had… but.. hey…
Still a good value signing. fill up a rotation spot, at worse he gets released and at 2m not bad more not bad if another team signs him. Hopefully still a decent inning eater
At best he rocks it with similar performance as a few years back and solid deadline trade option. Would be nice if they tack on a 2022 option to make him more appealing for any trade partners.
low risk for sure, and he has been generally good or decent until 2021. either way, i don’t see him in a pirates uniform at the end of 2021
Personally would’ve rather seen them sign Batman lol 😉
Yay! Pirates are the NL Central Champs again! Thank you Bob for opening your wallet and signing a high end free agent! I haven’t seen the Pirates fans so excited and ready to chant your name every game with approval! I guess you aren’t so cheap after all! It only cost the organization a Bob Walk bobble head and a life time supply of Heinz ketchup!
so predictable
hope they can get a good 4 months and flip him
Honestly dont care because they aren’t going to win next year no matter what, so these types of signings work.
He will be fine IMO. Nothing great, but if I had to guess he makes it to the deadline and gets flipped if he doesnt get injured as opposed to being DFA.