The Pirates are on the cusp of their first offseason signing, having a one-year deal in place with free agent left-hander José Quintana.
The major league deal is believed to be for $2 million, per source.
Quintana, who will turn 33 in January, is coming off his worst season in the majors, posting a 6.43 ERA over 29 appearances with the Angels and Giants, 10 of which were starts.
It wasn’t the bounce back season he had hoped for after being limited to just 10 innings for the Cubs in 2020 due to a surgery to repair a nerve in his left thumb. He was booted from the Angels’ rotation at the end of May after posting a 7.22 ERA over his first nine starts, and was eventually claimed off waivers by the Giants at the end of August. His new club would designate him for assignment just before the postseason.
It was a sharp decline for Quintana, who was once one of the game’s most consistent performers, throwing at least 200 innings with an ERA no higher than 3.51 every year from 2013-2016. That inspired the Cubs to make a blockbuster midseason trade for him in 2017, but he never posted the same results, pitching to a 4.24 ERA over 82 games with the Cubs.
If there was a positive for Quintana last year, it was that he struck out 85 over 63 innings with a 28.6% strikeout rate, the best he has ever had over a full season in his career. But while he graded out very well in terms of strikeouts, whiffs and chases, when hitters did make contact, it was usually hard. His 45.5% hard-hit rate was in the bottom 6% of all pitchers, per Baseball Savant, and his 90.6 mph average exit velocity ranked in the bottom 12%.
Quintana works off his two fastballs, which averaged 91.6 mph last year, but throws his four-seamer more often than the sinker. He also uses a low-spin curve and changeup, both of which get below-average horizontal and vertical movement.
There's no indication yet of if Quintana will be used as a starter or a reliever, or if that will be determined in spring training. He did have more success as a reliever, pitching to a 4.18 ERA with 34 strikeouts over 28 innings last season in that role. The Pirates' only left-handed relievers on the 40-man are Anthony Banda and Sam Howard.
If he has a chance at a starter, the rotation is currently wide open, with Mitch Keller, Bryse Wilson and JT Brubaker seeming like the most likely bets in the starting five. Wil Crowe, Chad Kuhl, Dillon Peters and Steven Brault all have starter pedigrees, and prospects Roansy Contreras, Max Kranick and Miguel Yajure all got a taste of the majors in 2021 and will look for a more permanent role in 2022.
The Pirates' roster is currently full at 40 players, so a corresponding move will need to be made.