Rozner: Quintana deal huge for Cubs, White Sox
It was all so very professional.
That's what jumps out about the way the Cubs and White Sox handled their business this week.
In concluding the biggest deal between the two teams since the Cubs sent George Bell to the Sox for Sammy Sosa in 1992, both sides were extremely aggressive in getting it done over the span of about 48 hours beginning Sunday when Rick Hahn contacted Theo Epstein.
The Cubs needed a shock to the system for a stunningly lifeless clubhouse and needed controllable starting pitching with Jake Arrieta and John Lackey scheduled to be free agents after this season.
Jose Quintana accomplishes both for the Cubs immediately.
The Sox, meanwhile, needed more elite prospects as they continue in the early stages of a rebuild in which they'll have to collect as many young players as possible, knowing they won't all become stars, and some will fizzle entirely.
Hahn identified Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease as two more superb young talents that go into a Sox system that continues its climb toward the top of the MLB rankings, where Baseball America's John Manuel says the Sox now move up to the top three with Atlanta and San Diego.
It's just hard to remember a time when both Chicago baseball teams were so certain of what they needed to do and so certain that it needed to be done now.
It was so professionally aggressive — and satisfying.
It seems no matter how many times Hahn said nothing — and no single person — prevented them from dealing with the Cubs, no one wanted to believe him.
Then again, if it gives critics a chance to take gratuitous shots at Jerry Reinsdorf, that's to be expected, even with Hahn and Epstein disputing that notion each time they were asked in the past eight months.
While a deal was unlikely given the stakes, it was never impossible. And in the end, it was the White Sox approaching the Cubs with a trade proposal Sunday night that got the conversation started.
So much for that narrative.
“(Reinsdorf) absolutely got it and was on board with it,” Hahn said. “This notion that we wouldn't do business with the Cubs — that we would take an inferior baseball deal for reasons totally unrelated to putting the best possible deal on the table — is laughable.
“It's not how Jerry is wired, not how I'm wired and not how Kenny (Williams) is wired.
“If people really felt we would take inferior talent simply because of emotion, we would be the wrong people running the club.”
There was also a belief that Hahn had missed the boat, that he should have moved Quintana in December and had therefore failed to capitalize on the left-hander's value after the Sox had traded Chris Sale and Adam Eaton.
“This deal trumps anything we discussed last off-season,” Hahn said. “This was the best package offered to us.
“There was very strong interest. We still had clubs calling us even though we were exchanging medicals (with the Cubs), including some teams not in (postseason) contention.”
It's a great deal for both teams, with the Sox getting the No. 5 prospect in baseball in Jimenez and the 39th-ranked pitcher in Cease, and the Cubs making a trade that helps them both today and for the next three years at a low salary.
“It was just about a perfect fit for us,” Epstein said. “Jose is just the kind of pitcher we've been trying to acquire for a long time, an elite controllable starting pitcher.
“We love what it has a chance to do for this year's team, but the reality is this is a deal we were looking at for the long haul.”
Epstein would not have moved such valuable chips for a rental, as he did a year ago with Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman, because their 2017 season looks nothing like 2016.
But their starting pitching has been so bad in 2017 that perhaps a few quality starts from Quintana will kick start the second half as they try to chase down the upstart Brewers in the Central Division.
Nevertheless, what Epstein said recently about the Cubs needing to get it done from within hasn't changed.
The Cubs have so many great players having mediocre — or worse — seasons, and if that doesn't change, neither will their place behind the Brewers in the standings.
“We had a bad first half and we have to own that,” Epstein said. “But let's take a step back and remind ourselves of what we have and where we are.
“We have great position player talent that's already demonstrated it can win a World Series. We're in the early stages of a long run with this group of guys.”
As for making another move, the Cubs will have to give Epstein a reason over the next two weeks to do something else about 2017.
“This still gives us a chance to step back and survey the rest of the market,” Epstein said. “A lot will depend on how we play and where we are in the standings and how realistic it is that we'll make a serious run.
“But the primary factor is what it does for our four-year plus window.”
So it's a great baseball trade that benefits both clubs considerably, two aggressive execs in the same town doing what's right for their teams.
What a terrific day for Chicago baseball.
brozner@dailyherald.com
• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.