During a visit to the Chapman Baseball Compound in Irvine, Calif., Vince Velasquez had a question for his new pitching coach.
"Man, what did you do with Q?"
"Q" is José Quintana, who at this time last year was getting one last shot to prove he was a starter after signing a one-year, $2 million deal with the Pirates. By tweaking his mechanics and reworking his changeup, Quintana had a spectacular bounceback campaign and parlayed it to a two-year, $26 million deal with the Mets this winter. The veteran lefty was so appreciative that during the final series of the season, the then-Cardinal sent pitching coach Oscar Marin a T-bottle of Don Julio tequila.