Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Prospects to Target for José Quintana

If the Pittsburgh Pirates trade José Quintana, they should ask these teams about these four prospects in a trade involving the lefty starter.

It’s unfortunate that the Pittsburgh Pirates will likely trade José Quintana. He’s been great, but coming to terms with it, it will be worth more, in the long run, to trade him than to keep him right now. The Pirates can always go after him again in the off-season if they choose to do so. Quintana is having his best season since 2016 and is arguably the second most valuable pitcher on the trade market.

Quintana has a 3.33 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and 1.28 WHIP in 81 innings of work. His 21.6% strikeout rate might not jump off the page, but he has a quality 7.3% walk rate and 0.78 HR/9. He’s also been great at limiting hard contact, being in the 88th percentile of opponent exit velocity. The underlying numbers also represent a solid pitcher, having a 3.96 SIERA and 3.72 xFIP. Overall, he’s putting up almost identical numbers as his 2016 campaign, the one and only all-star season on his resume.

Although Quintana has just the rest of this year left on his contract, he is arguably the second most valuable pitcher on the trade market. Tyler Mahle and Frankie Montas landed on the injured list. Quintana and Reds’ right-hander Luis Castillo are the only players with a likely chance of being traded and have both an ERA and FIP below 3.50. Castillo has a leg-up on Quintana, though, because he comes with another year of control, but Quintana has pitched nearly as good as Castillo this season.

Quintana should command a decent return with the Pittsburgh Pirates having a near corner on the market to themselves. There are plenty of teams in need of pitching, and some have already shown some interest in Quintana. Today, I want to take a peek at four prospects the Pirates should ask about in the event of a Quintana trade. Now don’t consider all four of these guys to be headliners in a deal for Quintana. Also, keep in mind that this is just my opinion. Feel free to disagree, but personally, I just think the Pirates should put a hefty asking price on Quintana.

Boston Red Sox – First Baseman Niko Kavadas

Niko Kavadas was a guy I highlighted as someone the Pirates should have taken in the 2021 draft. Kavadas is a fun player. Standing at 6’1, 235-pounds, Kavadas is a hulking man who is built like a defensive lineman. He showed off some of the best raw power in last year’s draft and was picked in the 11th round as an over-slot selection by the Boston Red Sox.

Since becoming a professional ballplayer, Kavadas has done nothing but hit. Dating back to 2021, Kavadas has hit for an insane .288/.459/.622 line, a .482 wOBA and 190 wRC+. Although his 26.5% strikeout rate might not be awe-inspiring, but his 22% walk rate is. Kavadas is a power-hitting beast who has 21 home runs in just 355 plate appearances and a .333 isolated slugging percentage. Now Kavadas has a .364 batting average on balls in play. That’s high, but he hits a line drive well over a third of the time with a 35.3% line-drive rate. He has a sub-30% ground ball rate (28.2%) and fly ball rate over 36% (36.5%).

Overall, Kavadas’s numbers are just crazy good. Since the start of the 2021 minor league season, Kavadas leads all minor league hitters in wRC+, wOBA, is second in OPS, walk rate, OBP, and third in slugging percentage. His 35.3% line drive rate is 4.1% better than second place.

The only thing Kavadas does poorly is strike out more than you’d like to see. Even then, 26.5% isn’t close to Mason Martin levels of bad, and it’s just below average. Kavadas is limited to first base and designated hitter, but all he does is hit.

If the Pittsburgh Pirates did acquire him, they’d probably promote him directly to Altoona. Kavadas might not be a headliner in a Quintana trade, but definitely a piece the Pirates could squeeze out from the Red Sox, along with maybe a pitching prospect.

Toronto Blue Jays – LHP Ricky Tiedemann

The Pittsburgh Pirates should put a big ask on Quintana, and deservedly so. A proven lefty starter who has a low-3.00 ERA and FIP this season, has been consistent all season, and one of the few healthy and quality arms on the market should come at a hefty price, even if he is a rental.

The Toronto Blue Jays have already shown interest in Quintana. Two of their starters, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Yusei Kikuchi, struggled this year and are on the injured list. Kevin Gausman, Ross Stripling, and Alek Manoah have been quality arms for them this year, but they could use at least one more pitcher. Should the Jays come calling again, the Pirates should look into lefty Ricky Tiedemann.

Saying that Tiedemann has been dominant this year would be a massive understatement. He’s absolutely mowed down batters like they’re nothing. In 63 innings split between A-ball and High-A, Tiedman has a 1.71 ERA, 1.87 FIP, and 0.81 WHIP. Tiedmann has given up just a single home run and has struck out 40% of batters faced this season. His 8.8% walk rate is the worst number on his record this season, but that’s still relatively solid.

Tiedemann hasn’t given up a home run since being promoted to the Jays’ High-A affiliate, which has been 33 straight innings. He’s also whittled down his walk rate to 6.2%. He’s been so great at preventing home runs because of his healthy 46.2% ground ball rate.

Tiedemann is only 19, but he’s already pushing for a promotion to Double-A well over a month before his 20th birthday. He has three pitches that project as above average with a fastball, slider, and change-up. There’s a decent chance he has three 60-grade offerings.

Again, is this a big ask? Absolutely. But the Pittsburgh Pirates rightfully should have a big price tag on Quintana. They have a decent corner on the market and arguably the second-best pitcher available in trade talks. They should be getting back a good prospect for Quintana.

Atlanta Braves – LHP Kyle Muller

The Atlanta Braves are looking to defend their World Series title and have the third-best record in the National League. The only problem? Their division rival, the New York Mets, have the second-best record in the NL.

Last year, they got strong seasons from the likes of Charlie Morton, Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Huascar Ynoa. Although Fried has continued to dominate and Kyle Wright has broken out as a top-of-the-line starter, Morton has turned things around, but Anderson has struggled all season. Huascar Ynoa was optioned after two starts where he gave up ten total runs, though Spencer Strider has helped mitigate much of the rotation’s issues as he looks like a Rookie of the Year candidate.

The Braves still need another pitcher, and that pitcher could be Quintana. If the Braves ask about Quintana, the Pittsburgh Pirates should ask about Kyle Muller. Muller was the Braves’ second-round pick in 2016. He’s a bit older at 24 years old, but he’s still a very talented pitcher. He’s an MLB-ready arm who could slot into the major league rotation right now.

Muller has pitched well at Triple-A, pitching to the tune of a 2.99 ERA, 3.57 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP in 81.1 innings. Muller has always been a high strikeout pitcher, and he’s only gotten better this year. He has a 31.6% K-rate for the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate. There have been issues about his control in the past, but he is also putting up a career-best walk rate of 7.7% rate. Muller has a sub-20% line-drive rate and a healthy 45.7% ground ball rate. With that good of a ground ball rate, he’ll likely decrease his 1.00 HR/9 rate.

Muller is a hard-throwing lefty, averaging out in the mid-90s with his fastball. When he wants to, he can flingh his four-seamer through the zone at 98 MPH. But he’s not just a one-pitch pitcher. Muller also throws a mid-to-upper-80s power slider and a low-80s curveball. Both his breaking pitches are distinct, not only in velocity but also in movement. His change-up isn’t a power pitch like his fastball, slider, or curveball, but it’s still a very usable offering. There are questions about his command, but as we talked about earlier, he’s made noticeable progress.

The southpaw has pitched in the majors already, but only briefly. He has just 39.1 innings under his belt. At 24 years old and performing well at Triple-A, Muller would be the kind of guy I would like to see the Pirates try and get in a trade involving Quintana: a talented arm that can make an impact now.