With Taijuan Walker leaving for Philadelphia, quick-draw Billy Eppler replaced him in the rotation just a day later with Jose Quintana, on a 2/$26 million deal. Much like with Jacob deGrom, the Mets looked to replace a veteran pitcher with an even older veteran pitcher, but on a shorter-term deal.

The soon-to-be-34-year-old Quintana had a nice bounce-back season last year, split between two clubs. His total line was a 2.93 ERA over 165.2 IP. And for people who value rotation diversity, Quintana is a LHP with a full arsenal of pitches and will give teams a different look compared to Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and – should he make the rotation – Tylor Megill.

Quintana has a lifetime 110 ERA+ but he put up a 137 mark last year. He was good at the beginning of the year with the Pirates, when he posted a 119 ERA+. But he turned it up a couple of notches after being traded to a contender in St. Louis, where he recorded a 191 ERA+ over his final 65.2 IP of the year.

At the end of the year, Quintana sat with a 4.0 fWAR. If he does that over the next two years combined, he’ll be a bargain for what he signed. This is a nice pickup for the Mets.

Now get Brandon Nimmo signed!

18 comments on “Mets replace Taijuan Walker with Jose Quintana

  • Mike W

    Do you think we will add one more starter?

  • deegrove84

    Quintana, to me, slots in as the current #4 pitcher and that is what the salary $13 Mil per suggests. I still believe the Mets need either Senga or Bassit to push Quintana down to fifth starter.

    All this said, the deal was a good one.

  • T.J.

    Although Eppler failed to run this by me (again), I do approve. From what I see, the Mets are already in the 90% tax bracket, as I understand it to mean for every additional 2023 AAV payroll $1 million dollars they add they’ll need to pay $900k in tax. It is hard for me to see how they will add another quality starter, retain Nimmo, and add quality and quantity to the bullpen.

    • Metsense

      The Mets are in Dire Straits concerning the luxury tax and will spend ” Money for nothin’ “.

  • Metsense

    Eppler still needs a #3 starter. Maybe it will be Bassitt to join the old folks home that the Mets call a rotation. That It seems that Peterson and Megill are going to get a lot of starts in 2023. Under the circumstances it seems like desperate move unless
    Eppler gets a #3 starter. Quick draw shot a blank when it comes to Taillon and Walker.

    • deegrove84

      According to Joel Sherman the Mets remain engaged highly with Senga even with this signing.

      • ChrisF

        Thats great news David. Thats a deal Id like to see get done.

        I cant help but wonder of Nimmo goes by, that Matsataka Yoshida is the smart move…and maybe the default smart move. Career .957 OPS in NBL.

    • T.J.

      I don’t think Eppler shot a blank…yet. He replaced deGrom with a HOF caliber ace. I think Quintana at that money/term is more value than Taillon or Walker. 4 years for those ok type guys scares me. I also like the idea of a veteran crafty lefty in the rotation to counter the big RH guns. Frankly, if they add another starter, Syndergaard could make sense. It would leave money for the pen. Most importantly, he could learn a tn Dom Max and even more from Verlander. Those guys have been able to evolve and still dominate with mid 90s fastballs. Noah could be Verlander 2.0.

      • Brian Joura

        I’m wondering how much Syndergaard’s market would have to crash in order for the Mets to re-sign him. Don’t believe Eppler was in place when Noah bolted but my guess is that there are others around who don’t have the best taste in their mouth from his departure.

        Syndergaard already burned the Angels – seems that makes the Orioles the favorite to get him.

  • Name

    It’s close, but i actually prefer Peterson over Quintana.
    I would put the odds at <50% that Quintana is in the rotation the entire year and puts up an ERA < 4., which he hadn't done for 5 straight years prior to 2022, so my money is that it was an aberration. It's crazy that $13 mil buys so little of guarantee this year.

    • BobP

      Agreed. I’m not in love with this move. I hope I’m wrong but last year does look like an aberration. It wouldn’t shock me to see both Megill and Peterson be better than Quintana.

    • Brian Joura

      I dig it when people aren’t afraid to immediately say when they disagree with a signing.

      Since TJ mentioned him earlier, how would you compare the Syndergaard signing last year to the Quintana one? Noah hadn’t pitched in two years, his velocity was down and he was under doctor’s orders not to throw his slider in his rehab in the minors and brief MLB appearances in 2021. Then in the offseason, he gets a 1/$21 million deal.

      Quintana puts up a really good year in 2022, after the four subpar-years you noted (although the run environment of 2019 makes his results that year pretty good). He essentially returned to the guy he was from 2013-2017. And he gets 2/$26 million.

      Pitching is expensive. My take is the Mets got a really good deal here. Time will tell.

      • Name

        I don’t necessarily think it’s a good signing or a bad signing, it’s just not the route i would have gone for. I struggle to see the Mets using both Peterson and Quintana and given the choice i would choose Peterson. If the Mets wanted more insurance it would make more sense to me to get a reclamation like Mike Minor or Wade Miley which would cost <$5mil. Of course, it's so hard to disapprove of any Mets signing these days in the context of unlimited budgets.

        Like i said, i wouldn't call this a bad deal, but boy oh boy the Noah deal probably ranks as a top 3 worst overall reclamation deal, if not #1, but that's just the Angels being their usual incompetence selves when it comes to FA signings.

  • NYM6986

    Good #3 or 4 in the rotation for what these days is almost no money. At this point, it’s time for Megill it and Peterson to step up. It is starting to look that signing Brandon Nimmo is becoming more doubtful because he’s going to get a boatload more money than we probably want to spend. Still looking for one more big bat to hit some home runs and take the pressure off of Alonzo and Lindor.

  • Mike W

    I like what the Mets have done so far, but on paper, they are no better than last season and are short Nimmo, while the Phillies have made dome major moves

  • deegrove84

    For what it’s worth, the Mets are open to signing both Senga and Nimmo right now. I think that would make most fans here pretty happy if they could make that happen.

    https://www.sny.tv/articles/mets-free-agency-trade-buzz-2023

  • Mike W

    Mets made another sneaky good move. They traded for Brooks Raley from Tampa, who is a decent lefty out of the bullpen. So far, I like what Eppler has done. Let’s finish the job.

  • Mike W

    Yoshida didn’t last long. Just signed a five year deal with Boston.

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