Pirates trade Quintana, Stratton to Cardinals

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded left-handed starter Jose Quintana and right-handed reliever Chris Stratton to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for righty reliever Johan Oviedo and infield prospect Malcom Nunez on Monday.

Quintana, 33, is amid a bounce-back campaign with the Pirates, authoring a 3.50 ERA and 3.24 FIP over 20 starts. The Cardinals are Quintana's third NL Central team.

The veteran southpaw was considered one of the top rental pitching options on the market prior to Tuesday's deadline. He signed a one-year, $2-million deal with Pittsburgh this past winter.

A former All-Star, Quintana was a key starter for the Chicago White Sox, posting a 3.51 ERA and 3.53 FIP over 172 games with the franchise and surpassing the 200-inning threshold four seasons in a row from 2013-16.

Since then, Quintana has had middling success while bouncing between the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, and San Francisco Giants. He recorded a 4.67 ERA and 4.17 FIP between 2018-21.

The Cardinals' rotation ranks 26th in the majors by FanGraphs WAR, collectively possessing a 3.98 ERA and 4.26 FIP.

Quintana would join a starting staff comprised of Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, and Andre Pallante. Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz are on the injured list.

Stratton, 31, will join the Cardinals bullpen. The righty has a 5.09 ERA and 3.61 FIP over 40 appearances this year.

Heading back the other way, the 24-year-old Oviedo has a 3.20 ERA and 4.07 FIP in 14 appearances in 2022, working as a multi-inning reliever.

Nunez, 21, is a corner infielder currently stationed at Double-A. The Cuban is hitting .255/.360/.463 with 17 homers and four steals in 85 games this year.