Whew, busy rumor day, eh? And there’s more to come.
This one is less about an active, ongoing rumor, but it does provide some background, not only for the Cubs’ Jose Quintana acquisition, but also about other Cubs targets.
Peter Gammons reports that the Cubs checked in on several other controllable starting pitchers before ultimately pulling the trigger on Quintana.
One name we heard about was Tigers youngster Michael Fulmer, but the Cubs were effectively told he was not available. The same was true of Chris Archer, largely because the Rays are in the race, and they’re trying to secure their new stadium. The Cubs also asked about Marcus Stroman and Gerrit Cole, but found that they were going to cost Major League players, which the Cubs were apparently not willing to do at this time.
So that left the Cubs talking to the White Sox about Quintana, and the A’s about Sonny Gray. According to Gammons, the Cubs ultimately preferred Quintana’s consistency and contract.
It’s all pretty interesting, even if mostly unsurprising. I especially found the phrasing on Gray, as contrasted with the others, given that Gray is known to be very available and a possible Cubs target, to be intriguing. That is to say, unlike the others, who were effectively off-limits for the Cubs, Gray-Quintana was merely a matter of preference. It doesn’t necessarily mean Gray is no longer on the table for the Cubs.