White Sox rumors: Yankees, Astros, Cardinals, Pirates interested in Jose Quintana

The White Sox are still fielding offers for Jose Quintana and the Yankees, Astros, Cardinals, and Pirates are among the teams still interested according to a report from Bruce Levine of CBS. As for the reason a deal hasn’t been struck yet though? Rick Hahn and the rest of the White Sox front office are said to be looking for quality prospects as opposed to quantity. From Levine:

The Astros, Cardinals, Pirates and Yankees are teams believed to be dug into the sweepstakes for the 28-year-old Quintana, who’s on the trade block as the White Sox have embarked on a rebuild. The White Sox’s focus in a potential Quintana trade is the quality of prospects they get in return, not the quantity, sources said.

“As we sit here right now, it’s more a function of continuing on the conversations we have had,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said earlier in the week. “We will see if we can build off of those.”

It makes sense that the White Sox focus on quality over quantity at this point in their rebuilding process. They’ve already stacked the farm system with many serviceable prospects thanks to the trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton. While other teams may be considering as many prospects as they can get when rebuilding, the White Sox are in a bit of a unique position and could chase the higher-ceiling prospects instead.

The 28-year-old Quintana is coming off of his fourth-consecutive 200-inning season, something just two other left-handed pitchers can boast: Jon Lester and Madison Bumgarner. The White Sox workhorse is under team control through the 2020 season and is due just $38 million over the next four seasons.

Quintana’s team-friendly contract status would seem to indicate that the White Sox likely shouldn’t be in a rush to trade him. However, the way Hahn is speaking with the press, it sounds like he is more than just considering the trade proposals that the Yankees, Astros, Cardinals, and Pirates are making. While a deal is by no means imminent, it looks like one could be swung well before the trade deadline.