Before the Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to terms with left-hander Andrew Heaney, the team also actively pursued free-agent pitcher Jose Quintana, according to major-league sources.
The Pirates offered Quintana a larger guarantee than Heaney’s one-year, $5.25 million contract, sources say. Once Quintana rejected the Pirates’ offers, the team finalized the agreement with Heaney to bolster their pitching depth.
MLB insider: Pirates pursued Jose Quintana before agreeing to terms with Andrew Heaney
Quintana would have represented a reunion for the Pirates, as the left-hander pitched in Pittsburgh in 2022. He posted a 3.50 ERA in 20 starts and team officials raved about his leadership both in the clubhouse and on the mound. But Heaney, 33, has proven to be a dependable fourth or fifth starter in recent seasons with the Texas Rangers. In 2023, he posted a 4.15 ERA in 147.1 innings. In 2024, he posted a 4.28 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 160 innings and posted a 5.9 percent walk rate, which was the lowest of his 11-year career.
Quintana, however, continues to be the best option remaining on the free-agent market. The 36-year-old is coming off a season in which he’s posted a 3.75 ERA and 135 strikeouts across 170.1 innings. He’s posted a 3.74 ERA and 1727 strikeouts across 13 major-league seasons and is one of 15 starting pitchers in baseball to record a 3.75 ERA or better in each of the last 15 seasons.
Among the teams that make sense for Quintana include the Milwaukee Brewers, who saw him up close when he was with the division-rival Chicago Cubs and Pirates. When he was with the Cubs from 2017 to 2020, they would line him up to specifically have him face the Brewers – and in 23 career games against Milwaukee, he’s posted a 2.98 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 130 innings. He also threw six shutout innings in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Brewers this past postseason.
The Brewers, however, have largely been inactive this winter and have even been outspent by the rebuilding Miami Marlins. They lost Willy Adames in free agency and traded two-time National League reliever of the year Devin Williams. The largest contract the team handed out this offseason is to left-hander Tyler Alexander on a $1 million contract while also signing pitchers Elvin Rodriguez and Grant Wolfram to non-guaranteed contracts.
With the Pirates unable to secure Quintana, he remains an option for the Brewers. He would help salvage an uninspiring winter and help bolster their rotation, but there are surely other teams lurking for his services.