Colorado Rockies acquire recently DFA'd right-handed pitcher from the Cleveland Guardians
The Hot Stove saw another trade following the White Sox and Braves six-player swap in the early hours on Friday morning. The Guardians traded right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill to the Rockies for minor league catcher Kody Huff.
Quantroll made 19 starts with Cleveland last season, owning a 4-7 record and posting a 5.24 ERA. The 28-year-old was designated for assignment last week along with pitcher Michael Kelly. Their spots on the 40-man roster went to righties Cade Smith and Daniel Espino.
A veteran of four-plus big league seasons, Quantrill was locked into the Guardians rotation for the 2023 season. He instead struggled on the mound and dealt with injury that shortened his season. Shoulder inflammation wiped out more than two months of season.
Quantrill offers a six-pitch mix, sinker, cutter, split-finger fastball, curveball, changeup and four-seam heater. He uses his sinker, cutter and split-finger fastball more out of the six within his arsenal. Opposing batters tattooed off his pitches last season, batters hit .277 when he threw the sinker (708 times), while he held batters to a .188 batting average with his curveball (188 times).
MLBTradeRumors projected Quantrill to make $6.6 million this coming season. He has two years left of team control.
Huff was the Rockies’ seventh round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Stanford. Last season he hit .262 with 14 doubles, five homers and drove in 36 RBIs while with Class-A Fresno.
The 22-year-old threw out 29 runners trying to steal against him and was named Defensive Catcher of the Year in the California League by Baseball America.
Huff is the son of former Angels and Red Sox scout Tim Huff. The young catcher has been described as “prototypical baseball rat who has an advanced feel for the game and a high baseball IQ,” per Baseball America. “He has a solid approach at the plate and rarely swings and misses or chases out of the strike zone. He has quiet, quick hands and a fluid swing path that generates line drives to all fields.”
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The Guardians felt comfortable enough to move on from the right-handed hurler due to having the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up, Tanner Bibee emerge as a replacement in the rotation. Cleveland also has Gavin Williams and Logan Allen, both of whom made contributions last season. Those three are expected to join Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie in the rotation for next season.
There is a chance the Guardians shop Bieber in a trade this winter, he is in the final year of team control. Bieber is in line to earn an estimated $12.2 million and will headline the rotation.
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