The Rockies and right-hander Cal Quantrill have avoided arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The righty will make $6.55MM in the upcoming campaign.
Quantrill, 29 in February, spent the past three and a half years with Cleveland. He first qualified for arbitration for the 2022 season as a Super Two player. He made $2.51MM that year and then $5.55MM last year. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a raise to $6.6MM in 2024 but the Guards decided to move on, designating him for assignment in November to open a roster spot prior to the Rule 5 draft. Shortly thereafter, he was acquired by the Rockies, with minor league catcher Kody Huff going the other way.
Friday is the deadline for clubs and arbitration-eligible players to submit salary figures, with hearings set to take place in late January. Many cases will be resolved as that deadline approaches, such as this case, with Quantrill agreeing to a salary just a shade below the projection.
Quantrill is coming off a frustrating season but had a solid run over the three prior campaigns. From 2020 to 2022, the righty tossed 368 innings with an earned run average of 3.08. His 18.4% strikeout rate was subpar, but he limited walks to a 6.7% rate, got grounders at a 42.7% clip and generally limited hard contact. Last year, however, his ERA shot up to 5.24 in a season where he twice went to the injured list due to shoulder inflammation. His walk rate was still good but his punchouts dropped to 13.1% as his hard hit rate and barrel rate both ticked up.
The Rockies are almost always in need of pitching and that’s especially been the case lately. Attracting free agents to the hitter-friendly environs of Coors Field is always a challenge and significant injuries have hit incumbents arms, with each of Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. Quantrill should be locked into a rotation spot to start the year alongside Kyle Freeland, with pitchers like Dakota Hudson, Ryan Feltner, Austin Gomber, Peter Lambert and Noah Davis also in the mix.
If Quantrill is able to have a bounceback season in 2024, he can be retained via arbitration in 2025. That could be by the Rockies or perhaps some other club, if Quantrill is throwing well enough to be a midseason trade candidate.
Paul Quantrill’s son
Nephew, isn’t he?
Son. JRam is correct.
He was 15-5 in 2022. Amazing
And last year his troubles began in the WBC and continued all year long.
Good, furtive move
Guardians smart
Rockies stupid
You forget the Nolan Jones trade already?
Trade evaluation isn’t over, Juan Brito won Minor League POY for Cleveland and is a 22 year old switch hitter.
I think Jones had a BABIP over.400 last year, he will regress.
Not trading Jon Gray stands out.
Who cares about his record?
Arguably the most underrated city and sports team in the entire country.
Underrated because they have won NOTHING. In their entire Major League Baseball existence the City of Denver has managed to do NOTHING.
Won the ‘07 Pennant!
Wow. I was worried about them going to arbitration. – Nobody
Pretty sure Quantril saw those numbers from the Rockies and immediately signed, no questions asked.
Worth every penny.
Still don’t get how the Guards only came away with a low level prospect from the Rockies in that trade? (By the way, a Stanford Cardinal for a Stanford Cardinal)
The Guards weren’t paying what Quantrill was going to get in arbitration/settlement based on his service time, and they wanted the 40 man roster spot. They were ok with a lottery pick.
Also used that savings to sign Scott Barlow as a setup guy in the pen. Better use of 6 million for their roster construction.
They didn’t sign Barlow they traded for him.
Sounds like a lot for the Rockies, Giants should trade for him. He is too good to be stuck in CO
Maybe not in 24, but the Rockies will have more wins than the Giants in 25 and for a while after
Ya that is when Kris Bryant is really gonna break out of his shell.
Going to be real embarrassing when this guy shuts out the Dodgers for 6 innings in the NLDS.