Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: Jose Quintana linked the Blue Jays

(Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
(Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking at another losing season which means another Trade Deadline for selling.  The trade could be their veteran starter.

The Pittsburgh Pirates got two completely different pitching performances over their two-game series against the New York Yankees.  The good came from veteran starter Jose Quintana and the bad, well that was game 2 with Mitch Keller (plus bad bullpen work).  However, the first game of the series may prove to be more valuable than just a win against the Yankees.

The veteran left-hander made a really impressive start against the Yankees lineup.  He pitched a total of 5 innings and only allowed 1 run.  He induced a lot of soft contacts and also struck out 7 batters in just his 5 innings of work.  Furthermore, he was on point with his control as he did not walk a single batter.  To not walk anyone or give up a home run to the Yankee lineup is very impressive.

The National media took notice. Following the start by Quintana Jon Heyman immediately tweeted the following:

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jose Quintana to a 1-year, 2 million dollar contract.  Obviously being a 1-year deal and the Bucs were always looking at Quintana as a trade candidate.  However, they probably did not realize he would become one of the most sought-after pitchers going into the Trade Deadline.

One team that could be involved in the Quintana sweepstakes is another American League East team. Jon Morosi of MLB Network suggests that the Toronto Blue Jays could look to make a deal for the veteran lefty:

This would be an interesting landing spot for Quintana.  The Blue Jays just watched the veteran carve up one of their division rivals. On the Pirates side of things, the Front Office is very familiar with the Blue Jays farm system making a deal more obvious between the two sides.

Quintana is in his age 33 season and pitching the best he has pitched in nearly 5 years.  The Pittsburgh Pirates should not extend Jose Quintana as there are just too many red flags going forward, his age and more recent years.  The Bucs need to do what they planned to do when they signed him, trade him, and get what you can for him.  The good news is the Pirates should be able to land a much better package than they originally would have thought.

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