5 offseason moves the Cubs need to make now that they have their manager

1. Trade Jose Quintana

The Cubs will definitely exercise their team option for $11 million to keep left-hander Jose Quintana under contract heading into the 2020 season. Whether the 30-year-old actually throws a pitch for the Cubs next year remains to be seen, however. This year’s free-agent market for pitchers falls off dramatically after Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg (if he decides to use his opt-out clause). With few great options on the market, the Cubs could be fielding calls from contenders looking for a value play to fill out the middle of their rotation.

Theo Epstein pulled off a shocking trade with the crosstown Chicago White Sox in 2017 to land Quintana, who was viewed as an extremely underrated and cheap No. 2 starter at the time of the deal. He’s still cheap at $11 million for next year, but has not lived up to his billing as a borderline Cy Young candidate.

In parts of three years with the Cubs, Quintana is 33-23 but has a 4.23 ERA and has given up 1.1 home runs per nine. Prior to the trade, he had a 3.51 ERA in six seasons with the White Sox, including a solid 3.20 mark in 2016 when he made his first All-Star team. Even if Quintana pitches more like a league-average starter going forward, he is still cheap.

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There aren’t a ton of obvious choices to replace Quintana if the Cubs decide to trade him, but their farm system is devoid of high-end talent after years of big trades. Moving Quintana this winter gives Epstein and his front office their best chance to extract value before he enters free agency. The Cubs need to make some bigger changes this winter to reload for the future in a tough division, and they can start by trading Quintana, who is still viewed as a value play by rival front offices.