Cubs Now Clear Favorites to Win NL Central with Quintana? 7/13/17
On Thursday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs made a bold move in efforts to pull back ahead in the National League Central.
The Trade
The Cubs acquired starter Jose Quintana from their cross-town rivals, the White Sox. The deal cost them top prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease. Also included in the trade were first-base prospect Matt Rose and infielder Bryant Flete.
What Quintana Means for Cubs
Quintana owns a 4.49 ERA in 104 1/3 innings this season. While his current ERA isn’t impressive, Quintana has been dominant since June 1. He’s a bona fide top-of-the-rotation arm for Chicago, which has struggled to pitch well this season. Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks’ ERAs are all in the 4.00s. Quintana’s presence was much needed.
Quintana was also attractive to the Cubs for another reason: His contract runs through 2020. He’s incredible affordable when you consider what other top pitchers are making in baseball. For a team that could lose Arrieta this offseason, Quintana was a huge acquisition not only for 2017, but beyond.
How much did the Cubs’ odds improved?
Believe it or not, the Cubs’ World Series odds actually got worse following the trade. They were 8/1 to win the World Series on Wednesday but are 9/1 on Thursday. This might be oddsmakers’ ploy to entice bettors to bet on a Cubs team that remains flawed, or perhaps Vegas truly doesn’t believe that Quintana will make much of a difference.
Meanwhile, the Cubs are 41/10 to win the National League pennant this year. Despite being 5.5 games back of the Brewers in the division, the Cubs are also -175 favorites to win the National League Central. Milwaukee is +175 while the Cardinals are +750.
If you like the Cubs to repeat as World Series champions, jump on their odds now. If you’re right and Chicago gets on a second-half tear, the Cubs’ odds probably won’t get much better than they are right now.
