Chicago Cubs: Maybe the trade for Jose Quintana wasn’t that bad

You have reassessed the trade between the Chicago Cubs and the White Sox, haven’t you?  You know you have. And on paper, it doesn’t look like the Cubs got ‘swindled’ as initially thought.

When the Chicago Cubs traded Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Bryan Flete and Matt Rose to the Chicago White Sox for Jose Quintana? I thought they were fleeced. Jimenez and Cease were two of the most significant prospects in the system, and Cease was one of our ‘homegrown’ pitchers. Quintana had good stuff but was a .500 pitcher with a sub-4.00 ERA. Not what you would expect to trade your two biggest prospects for.

Given time to reflect on the deal, it doesn’t seem that bad. No, really. We’ve got a small sample size for Jimenez and Cease, so take that as you will. And the two ‘throw-in’s’ in Flete and Rose? Flete has since moved on the Cincinnati Reds organization. And Rose is with the Schaumburg Boomers, an Independent League team. But on to Jimenez and Cease.

Jimenez has made the biggest mark on the White Sox showcasing his power at the plate. In 102 games he’s hit 24 home runs, 12 doubles and one triple for a slugging percentage of .478. What he doesn’t do, at least currently, is hit for average. He missed some time on the IL, but he’s batting just .255.

So it falls in line with Kyle Schwarber‘s rookie, which he only played in 69 games. He slashed .246/.355/.487 with a .842 OPS and a 130 OPS+. Jimenez, in 102 games has a slash line of .255/.304/.478 with a .782 OPS and 105 OPS+. Schwarber has struggled with the batting average, but he’s increased his slugging and OPS each year and has hit a career-high in home runs with 33. It’s difficult to say, but I’d put him along the lines of Schwarber with fewer walks.

Cease has had a rough go if it. In 11 games and 58 2/3 innings, he’s allowed some staggering numbers. He has a 6.75 ERA and allowed a WHIP of 1.551. Cease has struck out 64, good for a 9.8 SO/9. However, he’s given up 14 home runs. That and the 3.8 BB/9 and you see why that ERA is as high as it is. I admitted it; it was a small sample for each. But Cease has never ‘had’ it. He’s given up an earned run in every one of his starts. The league never had to adjust for Cease.

When we look at Quintana, what do we see? A guy who pitches a stellar game, and then in the next start has six earned runs in four innings? Maybe. But that’s not the current version of Q. In his last 11 starts, he’s 8-1 with a 3.08 ERA with 63 strikeouts compared with 12 walks in 64 1/3 innings.

And tonight’s opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers? He’s 8-4 with a 2.65 ERA and 87 strikeouts and 25 walks in 98 1/3 innings. Quintana has picked up the slack for Cole Hamels and Jon Lester. Without Quintana? Man, I don’t even know where the Chicago Cubs would be in the standings. So I say the trade was worth it for now.