Angels sign José Quintana to one-year, $8 million deal, per report

The Angels are in agreement with left-handed starting pitcher José Quintana on a one-year, $8 million contract, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported late Tuesday night:

Quintana, who turns 32 on Sunday, has not been very good over the last three seasons, posting a 4.36 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP, 322 strikeouts, and 117 walks over 68 outings (355.1 innings) for the Cubs. He was limited to just four appearances and one start in 2020 as he dealt with a left thumb nerve injury and a left lat strain.

If the Angels can return Quintana to the form he exhibited from 2012-17, though, they’re getting a steal. Over that stretch — spent mostly with the White Sox before an All-Star break deal sent him to the North Side in 2017 — Quintana had a 3.53 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP with 988 strikeouts and 305 walks in 1,139.2 innings.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Angels can resurrect Quintana’s career. They have not had very good luck with the veteran starting pitchers they’ve acquired in recent seasons, though after they added Mickey Callaway as their pitching coach prior to last season, they were able to rehab longtime Orioles starter Dylan Bundy, who enjoyed a career year during the shortened 2020 campaign. (They didn’t have as much luck with Julio Teheran, who posted a disastrous 10.05 ERA over 10 outings, nine of them starts.)

Quintana will slot into a rotation that will also include Bundy, Griffin Canning, and Andrew Heaney and could feature Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, and Jaime Barria. The Angels still appear to be a prime suitor for Trevor Bauer, who could give their starting pitching group a significant boost.