Deal of the Day

The Cubs acquired pitcher Jose Quintana from the White Sox:

The Cubs and White Sox pulled off a blockbuster deal with the White Sox sending lefty Jose Quintana to their crosstown rivals for Cubs top hitting prospect Eloy Jimenez as well as top pitching prospect Dylan Cease.

The Cubs are also sending Single-A infielders Matt Rose and Bryant Flete to the White Sox to complete the deal.

“It’s the type of deal we’ve been looking to make for a long time,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said. “It ended up being a surprising dance partner for us but I think a great baseball trade all around.”

Jimenez, a 20-year-old outfielder, is the No. 5 prospect in baseball, according to ESPN’s Keith Law.

Quintana players 2017 as a 28 year old, so there is still some prime time left in his career. He is striking out batters at his highest single season rate this season, although more walks and home runs led to more runs allowed. No doubt the Cubs see this as a tempoarary setback, as his strikeouts indicate he is not declining. His FIP and xFIP are also up, but not as much as his ERA.

Jimenez is a 20-year-old at high A, and he is hitting well there. He looks like more of a doubles power hitter, but that could change as he matures. Cease does not desist in striking out batters, averaging 12.3 per nine in 120 1/3 minor league innings, almost all as a starter. He is seasonal age 21. Rose is a high power, high outs hitter, while Flete is a career minor leaguer who does a good job of getting on base. So the White Sox get two potential starters and two players who have at least one useful skill. A very nice haul for Quintana.

At the All-Star break in 2016, the Cubs starters owned the highest average game score in the majors, 58.2, and made 53 quality starts. This season the Cubs starters have an average game score of 49.3 and 33 quality starts. They rank 16th in the majors in average game score.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2tOFgBz