Ryan Dempster is scheduled to start for the Cubs tomorrow, and it might be his last start at Wrigley Field as a Cub. Dempster holds a $14MM player option for next season, but he told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat that he hasn't put much thought into whether or not he'll exercise it yet…
"I never even thought about that," said Dempster. "As a player, you just want to see where everything's going and what direction they want to go and things like that more than anything. You know how much I love playing here. Hopefully, it's not just about staying here for next year but staying past next year. I'll worry about what's on the field first."
Dempster added that there are a lot of factors that will go into the decision, which is understandable. The free agent market for starters is quite thin beyond CC Sabathia (assuming he exercises his opt-out) and C.J. Wilson, so it's not a stretch to say Dempster would be the third best pitcher available and the top righty (ahead of Edwin Jackson).
The 34-year-old Dempster is in the middle of his worst season as a Cub, pitching to a 4.66 ERA in 183 1/3 innings across 31 starts. Unless he pitches very deep into the game in his last two starts, he'll fail to crack the 200 innings plateau for the first time since moving back into the rotation in 2008. It's worth noting that his strikeout (8.7 K/9), walk (3.4 BB/9), and home run (1.0 HR/9) rates are right in line with his previous seasons.
He doesn’t have to think about it. He’s going to accept it.
Look at Dempster’s number since May began. They’re identical to his past 4 years. He’s been fine, just a really bad outing at AZ inflating everything
Ryan Dempster’s numbers since May began: 152.2 IP, 3.66 ERA, 1.34 WHIP (1.28 xWHIP), 148:54 K/BB ratio (2.7), 8.7 K/9, 23.0% K% -JG
his whip and opp avg are high. he’s not worth that kind of money but who would opt out of that?
good Canadian kid, decent pitcher but absolutely NOBODY is going to be offer him $14M
Dempster should kiss his Jim Hendry bobblehead doll morning noon and night
Somebody could offer him something along the lines of 2/20 or even 3/30, so I don’t think it’s a certainty that he exercises.
He’s better off accepting a 1 yr 14MM then a 3 yr 30MM.
Y?
Dempster is a huge part of the country-club aura that surrounds the Cubs. He’s a number 3 or 4 starter at best and it would be a blessing to the Cubs payroll if he decides to leave. In light of the huge wad of money the team will have to eat for A: Zambrano, and B: Soriano (hopefully), getting Dempsters’ contract off the books will only help lighten the load. The Cubs are, in a perfect world, not going to contend until 2013 at best and 2015 at worst. They need to go into spring training with Garza #1, Wells #2 (not that he’s a number 2, more like a 4), and then fill in with low-cost minor-leaguers. Play the kids in 2012 and take your lumps, all the while building for a real run in 2013 or 14. And Dempster can take Quade, Ramirez, Byrd, Grabow, and Pena with him. If I’m the new Cubs GM, I’m playing Jackson in center, Colvin in left, Matt Szczur in right, Lemahieu at 3rd, and LaHair at first. Castro and Barney stay where they’re at, Campana is the 4th Of’er and Soto comes back to catch. Brenly comes down from the booth to manage. You’ll have a team that starts to grow up together and plays with hustle and intensity , something this years team lacks.
Wow that would be a brutal team. Look out ’62 Mets…
I don’t think it would be that brutal. The Cubs are a 4th place team for 2012, third if they get a huge amount of breaks. The starting nine I outlined above, with the possible exceptions of LaHair and Colvin, are primed to be solid players for a number of years. Get them the experience now so that when the team is ready to contend in 2 to 3 years, they’ll be approaching their primes. With the bad contracts coming off the books in the next couple of years, the Cubs would be poised to make sensible free-agent signings (i.e starting pitching) and maybe end over 100 years of futility.
Barney is a utility infielder not a second basemen
A utility infielder capable of getting atleast 150 hits per year? Your a genius arnt you.
add 30 walks and divide by 600 chances and you get a .300 OBP. excited?
He’s a better hitter than that guy this is his 1st full time year at 2nd base.
in his entire professional career, he’s had an OBP over .333 exactly once
are you talking about all 163 games of his career or this years 133 games ……………….you are working from a small sample size guy 157 hits in 579 ab’s with a .977 fielding percentage I will gladely take that … will he be the next chase utley NO but he is a decent middle infielder untill the cubs get something better from the farm like Javier Baez.
no, not major league career, professional career. he has played 5 professional seasons and had close to 2500 plate appearances. the only time he ever posted an OBP above .333 (major league average) was in AA in 2009. he couldn’t do it in single-A, couldn’t do it in AAA, and hasn’t been able to do it in the majors
Well I like Jackson, but no guarantee he’s a solid performer in 2012, and it’s not liek the rest of those guys are a bunch of Bryce Harpers…
The Cubs solved problems 1-5. They fired Jim Hendry. Now get rid of Quade. Let LeHair play 1B for the next 10 games. You know what you have in Pena. If LaHair shows something, he’s atleast a good, cheap bat on the bench.
Randy Wells cannot be part of the rotation.
What to do with Aramis?? A 3 year deal means 2 1/2 years of him barely trying. Then a run for a contract…
If I’m the new Cubs GM, I’m playing Jackson in center, Colvin in left,
Matt Szczur in right, Lemahieu at 3rd, and LaHair at first. Castro and
Barney stay where they’re at, Campana is the 4th Of’er and Soto comes
back to catch.
I think that I like this plan except for colvin in left, why not have soriano there you have to pay him anyway so have him there with colvin the 4th and campana the 5th outfielders.
Garza wells marshall samardzija coleman ……………..starters
trade marmol for some blue chip prospect and a b grade prospect
wood carpenter gaub plus 3-4 minor league guys ready for mlb experience or maybe ortiz and other cheap low risk decent reward type pitchers.
Soriano? He’s an absolute cancer and a horrible example for all the young guys. Aside from that, his defense is horrible and without checking stats, he’s had to have costed the pitching staff half a run a game. The other night in Cincinnati he did his usual loafing/trotting after a ball hit in the gap, turning a hard-hit single into a double (the runner later scored). He’s done this countless times since coming to Chicago. As a hitter, his (minimal) value is as a DH, nothing more. He doesn’t hit in the clutch, and has terrible plate discipline.
having him as a pinch hitter is better than eating all 50 mil that is owed to him in the balance of his contract, besides that the cubs need 1 home run hitter in that earlier scenerio what do you want to make the cubs out to be the 2011 pirates?
If the cubs can trade him pay all of his sallery and get a quality prospect in return for a club needing that DH the cubs would have it made.
Why dont the put him in right field with his terrible defense?
I hope he opts out. Seems like a good guy and all, but I don’t know how much long term production we can get out of him for the amount of money he probably wants.
If he is going to remain a cub I hope that he opts out and resigns for 2-3 years at 10 mil per as has been suggested is his worth previously. That would help the club and help dempster’s family.
13.9 in 2010 and 12.8 in 2011 according to Fangraphs.