This Chicago Cubs trade has aged horribly

Not every trade can work out in a team’s favor — we know this. But, given the long, storied history of the Cubs, there were bound to be some bad ones.

Now, this isn’t trading Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals bad, but by the time Eloy Jimenez is done playing…who knows?

In 2017, the Cubs traded away Jimenez as part of a package of players, including Dylan Cease, to acquire Jose Quintana. Quintana’s team-friendly contract looked like a great pickup at the time, and his 3.74 ERA that year helped lead the Cubs to the postseason.

Looking beyond that, however, the Cubs were clearly robbed.

Cubs trade for Jose Quintana has aged horribly

Cease went 13-7 last year for a White Sox team which won the AL Central, basically mirroring the numbers Quintana put up on the North Side at his peak. Not nearly as much was expected from a pitcher of Cease’s caliber, though the Cubs never got NL Cy Young production out of Quintana.

Jimenez, meanwhile, who was the prospect centerpiece of this deal, has Silver Slugger potential when healthy. In his age-23 season, Jimenez did just that, winning an AL Silver Slugger at his position and looking like a power threat for years to come. This was after he finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and hit 31 home runs as an introduction to the South Side.

2021 wasn’t as kind of Jimenez, as he dealt with some injury concerns, but assuming he gets over that he can be a threat in the White Sox lineup for years to come.

As for Quintana, he left Chicago, only to sign with the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason. Quintana departed the Cubs in 2020, making stops with the Angels and Giants on the West Coast last season.

He hasn’t been able to replicate his production on the South Side, making this a total robbery from a White Sox perspective.