35-Year-Old Veteran Arm Inks Deal with the Brewers
Following another reliable and productive season on the diamond, veteran starting pitcher José Quintana became a free agent after spending the last two seasons with the New York Mets. After the top-tier starting pitchers came off the free-agent market in the first few weeks of free agency and at the 2024 Winter Meetings in December, Quintana became a perennial option for teams looking to add a veteran arm to the middle of their rotation after missing out on the higher-priced pitchers this offseason. At 35 years old, Quintana has shown few signs of a significant drop-off in performance, remaining a consistent starter in recent seasons. As a result, according to Robert Murray, the Brewers, and Quintana have agreed to a one-year deal.
In his 13 MLB seasons, entering his 14th in 2025, Quintana has remained a viable option for the teams he has played for throughout his career, including the White Sox, Cubs, Angels, Giants, Pirates, Cardinals, and most recently the Mets. In his first six seasons in the majors, spent with the White Sox, Quintana helped anchor the White Sox’s rotation, becoming known as a reliable and healthy starter, making 30 or more starts in five of his six seasons on the South Side of Chicago. The veteran’s success with the White Sox was most notable in his penultimate season with the team in 2016, when Quintana was named to his only All-Star Game thus far in his career, finishing the season with a career-best 3.20 ERA at the time, a 13-12 W-L record, and striking out a career-high 181 batters in 32 starts. He finished tied for 10th in the American League Cy Young Award voting as a result.
Last season with the Mets, Quintana continued his reliability on the mound for New York, who initially struggled to get out of the gates but turned it around to reach the NLCS, falling short against the Dodgers. A part of the Mets’ success was Quintana, who finished the season with a 10-10 record, a 3.75 ERA, 135 strikeouts, and recorded his 100th career win in September. On top of that, in two of his three postseason starts for New York, Quintana was dominant, posting a shutout outing against the Brewers in the NL Wild Card and allowing no earned runs against the Phillies in the NLDS before getting hit hard by the Dodgers. Heading into 2025, the Brewers will be relying on Quintana to continue providing consistent pitching every fifth day in their rotation as they look to fight for a World Series title this upcoming season.
