Rockies Unlikely To Extend Cal Quantrill

Right-hander Cal Quantrill’s first season in Colorado has gone quite well, but Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post wrote recently that the club does not appear intent on keeping the hurler in Colorado long-term. Per Saunders, the club has not approached Quantrill regarding an extension and is unlikely to do so. That might result in his Rockies tenure being a fairly short one given that Saunders also notes that the Rockies have received calls on Quantrill ahead of the impending trade deadline, though they hadn’t received any firm offers as of Friday afternoon.

Quantrill, 29, was a first-round pick by the Padres back in 2016 and was shipped to Cleveland as a headliner in the package that brought Mike Clevinger to San Diego at the 2020 trade deadline. He was a clearly above average starter with the club from 2021 to 2022 with a 3.16 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 336 innings of work during that time despite a lackluster 18% strikeout rate. Quantrill suffered a down season last year as he struggled to a 5.24 ERA in 19 starts as he posted a career-worst 13.1% strikeout rate against a then career-worst 7.9% walk rate while surrendering eleven homers in just 99 2/3 innings of work.

That brutal performance left the Guardians to designate Quantrill for assignment back in November prior to the non-tender deadline. The club shipped him to the Rockies shortly thereafter, and the right-hander avoided arbitration with his new club by signing a one-year, $6.55MM deal ahead of the 2024 campaign. Things can hardly have been expected to go better for Quantrill during his first year with the Rockies, as he’s posted a 4.10 ERA in 114 1/3 innings of work that’s actually 10% better than league average by ERA+ thanks to the righty calling Coors Field home this year. Quantrill’s strikeout rate has crept back up to a more respectable 17.8% this year, although he’s walking a career-worst 8.9% of opponents so far. Most importantly for a pitcher in Colorado, Quantrill has seen his groundball rate tick up significantly to 46.4%, the best of his career.

Given Quantrill’s solid bounce back year while pitching in such a tough environment, it would hardly be a surprise if the Rockies wanted to retain the right-hander, who is controllable via arbitration next season, long-term. Saunders suggests that’s unlikely to be the club’s plan, however, noting that while Quantrill has expressed openness to the possibility of an extension, he also hopes to pitch for a contender and would likely want a three-year deal that the Rockies are hesitant to offer. A three-year pact would guarantee the right-hander a contract through his age-32 season, and Saunders suggests that the club believes they have pitching prospects currently developing in the system who will be ready to step into the rotation within the next two years.

That’s a somewhat surprising stance to take given the rarity of starting pitchers who have proven they can handle home games at Coors Field, but if the Rockies don’t intend to keep Quantrill long-term it’s hardly a surprise that they’re listening to offers on the righty. Given Quantrill’s relatively affordable price tag, extra season of team control, and experience pitching out of both the rotation and the bullpen in his career, the right-hander would surely be an attractive addition to several rotations in need of depth around the league.

While no specific names have been connected to Quantrill to this point, the Twins, Padres, and Brewers are among the clubs known to be in the market for starting pitching that could be restricted by financial limitations, a possibility that would make Quantrill a more attractive option given his aforementioned $6.55MM salary this year. The Guardians are another club that falls into that category, though it’s fair to wonder how realistic it is to think that Cleveland would give up significant prospect capital for a player they parted ways with just eight months ago.