Imrem: Jose Quintana trade felt on both sides of town

At 10 a.m. Sunday there was very little stirring in the Sox clubhouse.

A few players sat in chairs doing whatever they had to do. A few more trickled in. A few more came and went into another room and came back.

The real story concerned the uniforms hanging from hooks next to their lockers.

Which names will be stitched on them by the time the trade deadline passes at the end of the month?

This was less than a week after beloved teammate Jose Quintana was dealt to the Cubs for prospects.

Even with the Sox about to play a game they would lose to the Mariners 7-6 in 10 innings, the most intrigue was how Quintana would do at Baltimore in his Cubs debut.

“I'm sure I will be,” Sox manager Ricky Renteria said when asked whether he would sneak peeks at the scoreboard to see how the Cubs were doing with Quintana pitching.

What Renteria would see was that it took going from the Sox to the Cubs for Quintana to receive some run support.

Sunday was the day Quintana was scheduled to pitch for the Sox. This is how it figured to go: 7 innings, 3 hits, leave with the game tied 0-0.

Instead Quintana made his first start for the Cubs since their blockbuster, four-for-him, intracity trade.

Quintana didn't throw for the Sox against the Mariners in Chicago; he threw for the Cubs against the Orioles in Baltimore.

When exactly did Quintana realize he was traded? Was it when he walked into a clubhouse of strangers? Was it when he pulled on the uniform with the Cubbie logo?

A better guess is that it struck him while sitting in the dugout during the Cubs' 4-run second inning. Oh, he must have thought, so this is what it's like for your team to score runs for you.

Quintana hardly would get 2 runs of support in a game when he pitched for the Sox. Four might come in a month's worth of his starts.

Yet Quintana just kept keeping on, which is why the mere mention of his name put a smile on Renteria's face: You see, teammates liked this particular left-handed pitcher immensely.

“We wish him a lot of success,” Renteria said.

Quintana was one of those Chicago athletes who came, stayed a few years, said little, did his job with minimal fanfare and left with the respect of teammates, fans and the media.

Except Quintana didn't leave. He just went to work on the other side of town.

If Renteria didn't learn much from the Sox Park scoreboard, a box score would tell him later that Quintana went 7 innings, gave up 3 hits, walked zero and struck out 12 … and left leading 6-0 in an eventual 8-0 victory.

“He's a tremendous competitor, a tremendous human being,” Renteria said. “There's no doubt he will settle into his new home and perform how he performed here.”

The Sox are in a sad place right now. They were swept by Seattle but likely would have won Sunday if it was Quintana they scored 6 runs for.

“I haven't sensed guys are down,” Renteria said. “(Quintana's) their friend, their teammate, but that has nothing to do how they played the last three days.”

The Cubs won the big trade when Jose Quintana helped them sweep the Orioles on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Sox's payoff will come in a few years if the prospects they received are as good as scouting reports say they are.

mimrem@dailyherald.com