Chicago Cubs: Looking at trade partners for Jose Quintana

The Chicago Cubs front office is in a rather tricky place heading into the  offseason and could look to trade Jose Quintana to address other areas.

Sure, the Chicago Cubs have created some extra payroll space by declining options on the likes of Brandon Morrow, Kendall Graveman, David Phelps and Derek Holland. Cole Hamels is a free agent, as are Brandon Kintzler, Pedro Strop and Steve Cishek.

Even still, most indications point to the Cubs spending around the edges this year, rather than making a big splash. Team owner Tom Ricketts continues to suggest that the Cubs will not be big spenders and the payroll flexibility is inhibited by big contracts given to Jason Heyward and Yu Darvish, amongst others.

There is also the notion (posited in part by Theo Epstein) that the Cubs are in need of a shakeup in order to rebalance some of the talent distribution throughout the organization.

Though there has been plenty of discussion surrounding the likes of Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber as possible trade assets, Jose Quintana will be another name to watch.

Trading Quintana could net young talent while also clearing even more payroll. Do not be surprised if Epstein is pursuing such a move.