Never count the Yankees out when a star is available.
While offseason trade chatter and hot-stove talk has dissipated at the start of spring training, don’t count out the idea of the Yankees making a move for an impact arm at some point this year.
Yankees’ James Kaprielian throws BP
That means Jose Quintana trade rumors could heat up again around the Yankees.
In fact, according to Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago, the Yankees–along with the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals–are “dug into” the Quintana sweepstakes.
The Astros, Cardinals, Pirates and Yankees are teams believed to be dug into the sweepstakes for the 28-year-old Quintana, who’s on the trade block as the White Sox have embarked on a rebuild. The White Sox’s focus in a potential Quintana trade is the quality of prospects they get in return, not the quantity, sources said.
If the needed return for one of baseball’s best–and most underrated–pitchers is quality prospects, it’s easy to see why the White Sox would want the Yankees as part of the bidding war.
Quintana, 28, has been a top starter over the past for seasons. Since the start of 2013, Quintana is one of only seven pitchers in baseball to make 120 starts, toss 800 innings and post an ERA+ of 115 or better. The other six: Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber, Jon Lester, Madison Bumgarner, David Price and Cole Hamels.
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Plus, thanks to one of the most team-friendly deals in the sport, Quintana is a bargain. The lefty is guaranteed a grand total of $17.85M on his current deal. If option years in 2019 and 2020 are picked up, Quintana will make a grand total of $37.85M over the next four seasons.
Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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