Snakes Ship Quentin to ChiSox
December 3, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Hot Stove, Transactions
The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded disappointing outfielder Carlos Quentin to the Chicago White Sox for first-base prospect Chris Carter. The 26-year-old Quentin, a former first-round pick with excellent minor-league credentials (.313/.413/.527 in nearly 1600 PA), never got his career rolling in Phoenix (.230/.316/.425 in about 450 PA), due in part to injuries.
Murton Next?Quentin is the third first-round pick from the 2003 draft to be traded within the past week (Delmon Young, Lastings Milledge). Now it seems that another member of that class, Cubs outfielder Matt Murton, could be on his way out of Chicago before long. Stay tuned…
On the other side, Carter hit .291/.383/.522 in 2007 (his first full pro season) as a 20-year-old in the South Atlantic League. Good power, good plate discipline. Sort of like Quentin, but without the failed prospect tag.
With Chris Young in center, and youngsters Carlos Gonzalez and Justin Upton on the rise, Quentin faced stiff competition in Arizona. With a fresh start, and assuming he can stay healthy, maybe he will finally live up to his promise. If so, Chicago will have picked itself up a pretty useful player.
For the Diamondbacks, the addition of Carter, ranked #11 among White Sox prospects by Baseball America prior to the 2007 season, presumably buys them some insurance in case Conor Jackson stalls. Jackson, a fellow first-rounder in the 2003 draft (taken at #19, 10 slots ahead of Quentin), has played fairly well since arriving in the big leagues, but it’s always good to have a back-up plan.
I really like this trade for the White Sox. They get a young athletic outfielder who can inject some much needed energy into what proved to be and old an groggy unit last season.
I understand the need for Arizona to get rid of Quentin (with Justin Upton already entrenched) but I thought they decided to target a weird position. First base? But, they did get someone with 40 home run potential, something they currently lack at the major league level.
Eric SanInocencio
Rumor has it that Conor Jackson is going to be traded to the A’s.