GLENDALE, Ariz. — In late January, Jose Quintana patiently answered rapid-fire trade questions at SoxFest.
On the second day of spring training at Camelback Ranch on Wednesday, the all-star starting pitcher agreed to talk about his uncertain status with the Chicago White Sox one final time.
“Well, you never know what’s going to happen but during the off-season I heard a lot of rumors,” Quintana said. “I said the same thing every time, you don’t have control over that. Keep doing my preparation for the new year, new season and that’s about it.”
The Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers have all been linked to Quintana, and you can add the St. Louis Cardinals to the list of interested teams now that prized rookie Alex Reyes is having season-ending Tommy John surgery.
“Absolutely not,” Quintana said when asked if the constant trade rumors are a distraction. “I just try to keep my mind on the game and do my job every five days and help my team and that’s all I can do. I spend my time with my teammates and we all work hard.”
Quintana is going to miss spending time with Chris Sale, who was traded to the Boston Red Sox in December for four minor league prospects. The lefty duo was a combined 30-22 with a 3.27 ERA last season while pitching 434⅔ innings.
“We’ll miss this guy,” Quintana said. “He is truly the best pitcher in the American League. But the team, they think of winning for the future and we have good players now and we have a lot of talent, younger guys. I think we have a chance to compete this year.”
Position players are not due to report until Saturday, when the White Sox hold their first full-squad workout of spring training.
Yoan Moncada is already in camp, and the key trade piece from the Boston Red Sox in the Chris Sale deal is trying to show why he’s considered one of baseball’s best prospects.
“He’s a pretty talented young man,” manager Rick Renteria said.
On Wednesday, Renteria watched Moncada take groundballs at second base, his likely position once he arrives with the White Sox. The 21-year-old Moncada also plays third base.
“We’re going to try to get him to be a little more aggressive to balls,” Renteria said. “He has a tendency to get around balls, kind of time it a little bit. We want to make sure we’re fundamentally sound in approaching the groundballs and securing them as quickly as we possibly can.
“He has a fundamental base to work with. We’re going to try to get him to be a little more stable underneath. We saw a couple where his feet spun out from underneath him, which means he’s getting his head over his body a little bit too much. The balance points are lost and you end up losing your footing. As long as he keeps his legs underneath him, he’ll be pretty stable and turn some of the double plays.”
Hard-throwing pitching prospects Zack Burdi and Michael Kopech each threw off the mound for the first time in major-league camp on Wednesday, which were fitting debuts.
Burdi, a closer, and Kopech, a starter, both throw 100-plus mph fastballs. The two played catch together during warmup drills.
“He was wailing them at me and he had the wind at his back,” Burdi said of Kopech. “I’ve played catch with him before and there’s a good jump to it, but there was a jump with a second gust to it. He blew me up pretty good today, but he’s good to throw with.”
White Sox infielder Carlos Sanchez made the switch to Yolmer Sanchez, which is his given first name.
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