New York Mets sign Jose Quintana to two-year deal

Two days after making a big splash to replace Jacob deGrom with Justin Verlander, the New York Mets are still adding to their starting rotation. The Mets have signed veteran left-hander Jose Quintana to a two-year deal according to Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal is worth $26 million dollars.

Quintana, who will turn 34 in January, went 6-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 32 starts between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals in 2022. The season was a bounceback year for Quintana, who struggled in 2021 while splitting time between the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants, and is more reminiscent of his track record as a quality starter. Quintana is also durable, having made 32 starts every year since 2013 (outside of 2021, when he spent some time in the bullpen, and the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign). That quality is important since the Mets have a pair of elite aces in Verlander and Max Scherzer who are on the older side so having a guy they can feel confident in making at least 25 starts is important.

The addition of Quintana also doesn’t take the Mets out of the market for starting pitching as they are still interested in Japanese righty Kodai Senga, who is a top target for them. Senga’s addition would bump Quintana down to the fourth starter slot, giving the Mets an extremely deep rotation with Carlos Carrasco as the fifth starter and four solid depth options in David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and Elieser Hernandez. The benefit of doing the Quintana deal now is that it assures the Mets have enough starting pitching to start the season even if Senga doesn’t pick them since this team could survive with one of the depth options winning a competition in spring training for the fifth starter’s spot.

The Mets also got good value on Quintana’s contract compared to some of the other deals for pitchers of his ilk, such as Taijuan Walker getting a four-year, $72 million deal from the Philadelphia Phillies and Jameson Taillon getting 4/68 from the Chicago Cubs. These shorter-term commitments allow the Mets to get quality now while maintaining the financial flexibility to reset their team in two years, something that is very appealing with big free agents like Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto set to hit the market in the coming years.