5 reasons to love the Jose Quintana deal for the Cubs

Jose Quintana will be joining the Chicago Cubs — is the trade a win for the defending World Series champs?

It was only a matter of time before Chicago Cubs exec Theo Epstein got to work on the trade market in an effort to spark his slumping ballclub. Thursday morning, the Cubs got a jump on the rest of the baseball world by making the first big blockbuster trade of the deadline period. Jose Quintana will be staying the Windy City and moving after the Cubs sent a rich prospect package which included Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease, their top two minor leaguers.

The Cubs were in need of an upgrade to steady their starting rotation, which currently ranks 17th in MLB with a 4.66 ERA. In their run to the World Series last year, the Cubs rotation went 81-39 with a 2.96 ERA. The 2016 season was a historically-good year for Chicago starters, and expecting them to run it back again in 2017 was always going to be a longshot. That being said, seeing their collective ERA rise by close to two runs is also unexpected.

Jose Quintana comes to the Cubs in the midst of the worst season of his six-year career. The left-hander is 4-8 with a 4.49 ERA but is striking out a career-high 9.4 per nine. He did go 2-1 in the month of June with a 1.78 ERA while holding opponents to a .194/.275/.287 line, so it’s not as if he has come apart completely. Quintana still has good stuff as evidenced by his swing-and-miss numbers and the quality of opponents’ contact on his secondary pitches.

Is Jose Quintana the savior the Cubs need to pull them up from below .500? Perhaps. It was a steep price for Epstein to pay to acquire him from the crosstown Chicago White Sox, but this was a deal worth making on multiple fronts. Here are the five biggest reasons to love the trade — which we pushed for way back in December — if you root for the Cubs.

5. The Cubs are first to the party

By getting a jump on the trade market, the Cubs were able to avoid getting into a massive bidding war in the hours leading up to the trade deadline. Epstein and White Sox GM Rick Hahn were able to iron out a deal the worked for both sides without too many other partners driving up the price. Now, Hahn likely put out calls to other teams like the Houston Astros before pulling a deal with the Cubs, but it’s still relatively early for big moves.

Epstein does not mess around on the trade market when he knows what he needs. He did the same thing last year in going and getting Aroldis Chapman when it became clear that the Cubs needed an upgrade at closer. It has to be comforting for fans to know their front office is always willing to jump on a smart trade when it presents itself.

With this big trade out of the way, the Cubs front office can focus on addressing remaining needs while not waiting three additional weeks to make a much-needed upgrade to the starting rotation. If Quintana is able to deliver three extra wins before the trade deadline, that’s a huge win for the Cubs because every game counts at this point as they try to make up ground on the Milwaukee Brewers.