Predicted signing for Guardians would be welcome addition to rotation

The first week of February is in the books and there are still a handful of quality free agents who remain unsigned. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to spring training relatively soon and that could motivate teams who would like to improve their pitching depth. One player in particular was identified as an option for the Cleveland Guardians, veteran left-hander Jose Quintana.

Quintana is one of 25 names appearing in Updated MLB Free-Agent Big Board and Predictions For Best Remaining Players on Bleacher Report. Author Kerry Miller believes that Quintana would help improve a rotation that is in clear need of improvement, "For a team that's supposed to make the playoffs, Cleveland's starting rotation is kind of awful. FanGraphs' projections of the various SP depth charts put it at 27th-best, ahead of only the Rockies, White Sox and Athletics.".

Being projected to be better than three of the worst teams in baseball is not ideal and finding a way to improve that is something the Guardians should seriously consider. There are far too many question marks to feel comfortable with their current options and adding someone with Quintana's track record could provide them the level of stability they desperately need.

It has been an impressive three-year stretch for Quintana, compiling a 3.39 ERA, 1.246 WHIP, and 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in 76 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Mets. This is actually quite comparable to his first four seasons on Chicago's south side, putting together a 3.42 ERA, 1.242 WHIP, and 7.4 K/9 over 154 games for the White Sox.

Right now is the time of the offseason that teams will attempt to sign players on bargain contracts while hoping to extract the maximum amount of value from those players, with the Guardians being the ideal ballclub to utilize this strategy. If Quintana can continue his late-career renaissance on a low-cost contract in Cleveland, it could be the type of move that closes the gap between the Guardians and the teams that can afford to spend significantly more on their roster.