The Los Angeles Angels agreed to hire the free agent, left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana, Ken Rosenthal reports from The Athletic. The deal is for one year and $ 8 million, reports Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports.
Quintana, who turns 32 in just a few days, lost almost all of last season after an injury he sustained while cutting his thumb while washing dishes. He was able to return for just 10 entries at the end of the season, exhibiting slightly increased speed and eliminating 12.
When signing with the Angels, Quintana reunites with businessman Joe Maddon, for whom he played with the Cubs since he was traded there in July 2017 until the end of the 2019 season. An All-Star in 2016, Quintana was very good for the Cubs after the deal in 2017, but their production declined over the next two seasons. There were positives, to be sure, but he was nowhere near the same pitcher with the Cubs as the White Sox.
In 171 entries in 2019, Quintana pitched for 4.68 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and had 152 eliminations against 46 walks.
Perhaps having almost all of 2020 free will help Quintana’s things work better in 2021. It’s hard to say, but there is certainly a chance.
Depending on how things go with Shohei Ohtani, the Angels have the ingredients of a six-man rotation perfectly acceptable at this juncture. Not necessarily in that order, but here’s a look at how it can change – especially if they want to make Ohtani a pitcher once a week to help with their transition to playing on an outside field.
The Angels had 26-34 last season, with the biggest problem being shooting (5.52 ERA starting). Canning’s growth, more work for Barria and the addition of Quintana – along with everything they can get from Ohtani – is where they will need to improve in 2021.