It’s no secret; the Astros have been “in” on Jose Quintana, probably the most valuable trade chip left this offseason. In all likelihood, though, the White Sox’s asking price—Joe Musgrove, Francis Martes, and Kyle Tucker—is too rich for their blood. Quintana is tailor-made for Houston’s rotation, but Chicago has little incentive to lower its demands, given how reliable, inexpensive, and controllable the southpaw is. And of course, the ‘Stros have competition for the lefty’s services.
Indeed, the opportunity cost would be too big. As has been suggested by Dave Cameron, Managing Editor of FanGraphs, if the Astros traded Musgrove and Martes, the former of which is projected by ZIPS to be around league-average for 2017, they’d negate a chunk of the value added by Quintana, resulting in a net gain of only about two wins above replacement (WAR).