With four left-handers in their rotation the White Sox are much more open to trading Hector Santiago and likely offered him the Padres' way in talks. But as one major league evaluator said, Santiago's value has been hurt by pitching in the same rotation as Quintana, who is seen as a far more consistent and therefore attractive option.

 

 

 

Saw this as part of a Dan Hayes article online about the idea of the White Sox trading Quintana for Headley...but that the White Sox hadn't agreed because they held Quintana's rights until 2019...and it was likely that Headley would be a "one year and out" acquisition at this point, and therefore, not logical for the long-term oriented White Sox.

Edited December 9, 201312 yr by caulfield12

With four left-handers in their rotation the White Sox are much more open to trading Hector Santiago and likely offered him the Padres' way in talks. But as one major league evaluator said, Santiago's value has been hurt by pitching in the same rotation as Quintana, who is seen as a far more consistent and therefore attractive option.

 

 

 

Saw this as part of a Dan Hayes article online about the idea of the White Sox trading Quintana for Headley...but that the White Sox hadn't agreed because they held Quintana's rights until 2019...and it was likely that Headley would be a "one year and out" acquisition at this point, and therefore, not logical for the long-term oriented White Sox.

 

I mean, it only "hurts" his value in the sense that we have 2 better lefties in our rotation, so Santiago seems like such a consolation prize when compared, and to other teams he may seem super expendable to us because of Sale/Quintana as well. But I think it's just Dan Hayes pumping out a story in a slow rumor day (or week, or month) for the Sox. I doubt it's much of a factor at all.

This notion is so ridiculous. If you are negotiating with an idiot, sure the idiot may say, "you already have those two guys who are really good, you should just give me the other one for nothing." But, if you are MLB GM and have a surplus of starting pitching, you are dealing from an area of strength and only that individual's performance and statistics are what matter. Any GM who tries to argue otherwise is simply playing games because he wants the best deal possible.

Santiago hurt his own value with his inconsistency. That has nothing to do with Quintana.

I think there is a lot of merit to the argument. Other teams feel they would be settling for Santiago when there are options they would rather pursue on the same roster.

I think there is a lot of merit to the argument. Other teams feel they would be settling for Santiago when there are options they would rather pursue on the same roster.

I agree. It's just human nature I think. When you are considering a choice within a group of choices, I think the natural thing is to want the 1st or 2nd best, not the third. That doesn't mean an intelligent acquirer wouldn't look at each player within a vacuum, but I think the tendency is to not want to settle for Santiago when Quintana is there.

 

Additionally, Quintana's consistency provides a stark contrast to Santiago's inconsistency.