MLB Trade Rumors: Astros, Nationals among teams interested in Jose Quintana

After trading Chris Sale, the Chicago White Sox aren’t done. They’re shopping Jose Quintana, and the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals are interested.

As big as the Chris Sale trade was, a bigger trade involving a Chicago White Sox pitcher could be happening fairly soon. Jose Quintana, much like Sale, is under team control on a very team friendly contract. One could argue Quintana is better than his former teammate. The White Sox are shopping him and the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals are among the teams listening.

As much as the White Sox got for Sale, they could get as much, or more, for Quintana. Over the past three seasons, the pair have similar statistics. Though Sale beats out Quintana in ERA, fWAR, FIP and xFIP, Quintana is very close to Sale in those categories. The reason the White Sox could get more for him is because he’s under team control through at least 2018. This doesn’t include a $10.5 million team option for 2019 and an $11.5 million team option for 2020.

One has to think the Nationals have the slight upper hand. They have the better farm system and they could work something out where the White Sox send them both Quintana and closer David Robertson. Washington needs a closer, after all. However, maybe the Nationals won’t be interested in Robertson until Aroldis Chapman signs somewhere because they’ve been in talks with him.

Next: Best Starting Pitchers in MLB History

On the other hand, the Astros have more of a need for Quintana than the Nationals. He would be a pure luxury for Washington, though the same thing could be said for Sale and the Red Sox. With Houston, Quintana would be their staff ace. It’s clear the White Sox are undergoing a significant rebuild. If they play their cards right, they could emerge with one of the best farm systems in baseball.