8:50pm: Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago reports that Dempster's salary deferral actually came this past offseason, allowing the Cubs to sign Xavier Nady. Rosenthal confirms the report, via Twitter. A bit of a disappointment for Cubs fans who were hoping the team would be able to to use those savings to make a trade this summer.
4:05pm: Ryan Dempster will defer $3MM of his $12.5MM salary this year at little or no interest to give the Cubs the flexibility to make moves, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Dempster will receive $1MM of the deferred money by February 2011, $1MM by February 2012 and the final $1MM by February 2013. The rest of his contract is unchanged, so Dempster will still make $13.5MM in 2011 and retain his $14MM player option for 2012.
The 33-year-old Canadian has a 3.31 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 this season. The Cubs need Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee to start hitting like they usually do, but they will now be better-prepared to address smaller needs when they emerge. Scott Rolen restructured his deal in the winter, and he got an extension out of it. The best Dempster can hope for is an improved chance at postseason play.
Demp is a quality individual.
Nice gesture. Dempster is definitely worth of his team leader status.
Too bad that $3 mil will probably be wasted by Jim Hendry anyway.
Surprised this doesn’t break some rule with the MLBPA or something.
Agreed.
But class act.
As a sox fan I applaud Dempster, I wish most of these selfish players would do the same.
Class act by Dempster. Too bad Soriano is too much of a “me first” player to do the same.
While definitely a classy gesture, Dempster’s salary is the least of the Cubs problems.
I was one of many who thought the Dempster signing was ill-advised. Too many years for too high of a salary.
He continues to prove me wrong. He has been so incredibly solid for the Cubs. This just gets added to his list of being a valuable asset to the organization.
I agree. I wasn’t bashing this move constantly, but it didn’t seem like a great idea. If anything, I think he has become underrated.
Very selfless move, btw.
Not bad, a very selfless act by Ryan, bravo.
Wow, now that’s what you call a team player.
Even if it would have opened up some money for a trade the Cubs are much more than a middle reliever away from contending. We aren’t going anywhere this year and would be more excited if we could shed some big salaries (zambrano, fukudome, etc) than if we trade for a middle reliever.
Can Zambrano defer his weight until the end of his career?
What position are the Cubs missing in order to be a contender? Hard to say
Dempster’s always been one of my favorites. He doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.