Chicago Cubs: Three awful mistakes Theo Epstein made since 2016

The Jose Quintana Trade

This is about as big of a mistake as any team in Major League Baseball has made in the 2010s. One year after winning the World Series, the Cubs thought they needed to add another front of the rotation pitcher. A guy like Justin Verlander begged to come to play for the Cubs but they went with Jose Quintana from the Chicago White Sox instead. Quintana was an all-star pitcher once with the White Sox but he by no means was one of the top-20 pitchers in the game.

The Cubs gave the White Sox a package that you give up for a guy like Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, or Justin Verlander who might have been available later for them anyway. The Cubs gave the White Sox Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease amongst two other prospects for Quintana and let’s just say it hasn’t worked out for them.

Quintana has been borderline average for the Cubs while the White Sox are doing a good job developing Jimenez and Cease. Jimenez hit 31 home runs as a rookie and 40-50 per season is in his future by the next time baseball plays a normal season. He was as polished a hitter that the White Sox ever had as a rookie. Cease had an up and down rookie season but has the stuff to develop into a really good pitcher. This is one of the biggest mistakes in Epstein’s career.