Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – If not Quintana, then who?

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

All of the talk this off-season has been around the Pirates and Jose Quintana. For the right price, Quintana would be a great pickup. He’s been a consistently good pitcher, he’s young, and he has a very affordable contract.

But  trade has not been consummated yet. Let’s say the Pirates don’t end up trading for Quintana. Who else could they target?

There was talk surrounding Chris Archer of the Rays before the trade deadline, and he would be a similar target to Quintana. He hasn’t been as consistent as Quintana, but when he’s at the top of his game, he’s a Cy Young contender. He’s also under contract through 2019 with options for 2020 and 2021 at an even more affordable contract than that of Quintana. He’s also cost just as much as Quintana would in terms of prospects. The Rays also have Jake Odorizzi, who was a name floated at last year’s deadline as well. Odorizzi has posted good back-to-back sub-four ERA seasons, and he’s only 26. But Odorizzi isn’s signed long-term and is just entering his first year of arbitration. He would cost less than Quintana or Archer, however.

Sonny Gray is a similar name to Quintana and Archer, as when he’s on his game, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. But he’s more of a risk than any of the pitchers listed above, as he’s coming off a terrible season with a 5.69 ERA. He’d cost a lot, and there’s no guarantee he’d return to his ace-form. And one last name I don’t see brought up much is Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks. He had two good seasons before dropping off last year, similar to Gray. Who knows if the Diamondbacks would be willing to trade him, but he’s a name to keep an eye on.

Baseball Talk Around the Web

• Why has the free agent market for sluggers been so slow to develop? Dan Szymborski of ESPN takes a lot at why this is happening.
• There are many players still sitting on the trade block. Rick Weinder of Bleacher Report lists the potential landing spots for the remaining players on the block.

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