The Cubs have the worst record in baseball (15-30) and they've lost their last ten games, the franchise's longest losing streak in 15 years. Manager Dale Sveum told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times that the next few weeks will be important as they try to shape their roster going forward.
"You get to that point in the year where decisions, roster moves, a lot of things like that [have to be made]," he said. “You get to the point where if you’re not playing well things start changing a lot."
With extension talks between the team and Matt Garza reportedly going "very well," the Cubs' most marketable piece of trade bait is right-hander Ryan Dempster. The 35-year-old owns a 2.14 ERA in 54 2/3 innings spread across eight starts, and his walk (2.5 BB/9), home run (0.5 HR/9), and hit (7.1 H/9) rates are the best they've been in years.
"I’m not an idiot. I know how things go," he said. "I know how it goes with players in contract years and the team not necessarily doing like they’re supposed to be doing, there’s always a possibility of things. There’s a possibility of being traded anytime."
Dempster has full no-trade protection as a five-and-ten player, though he seems open to waiving it under the right circumstances.
"If it’s something they want to approach me with, then I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get to it," he said.
Dempster exercised his $14MM player option this past winter and is still owed approximately $10.1MM the rest of the season. The Cubs would have to offer Dempster a qualifying offer to receive draft pick compensation after the season, but if traded, his new club will not be eligible to receive picks under the new collective bargaining agreement.
Twins?
Twin posts about the Twins. NICE.
Might at well sell high. The Cubs SHOULD get a decent pitching prospect, if they eat some of the remaining contract.
Not to mention, Dempster may very well take a hometown discount on a 1-2 year deal to return in the offseason.
If this wasn’t a rebuilding season, the thought of RoLo, or Casey Coleman making starts for the big league club might make me want to roundhouse kick an old lady in the turkey neck.
Yeah, when I saw Randy Wells in after Garza got lit up last week, I knew there was no longer hope for even a mediocre season. When you turn to Randy Wells (who I said should have been traded after 2009), you know you’re just plain screwed.
I’m not sure if the Cubs would need to eat money, but it’s not like they’re spending it on anything else, so they might as well start negotiations by saying they’ll eat the whole contract, if necessary. It’s mostly an issue of who wants/needs him. Baltimore might have an interest, not sure.
Agreed.
Wells pitched over his head his rookie season.
Any ballclub where Wells isn’t a long man out of the pen isn’t going anywhere.
Lets eat the money now, and see what future outfield assets we have. Baltimore would be a good destination. They seem to love a core of washed up Cubs prospects that never panned out.
We do have time on our side. At least until Brett Jackson can figure out on cutting down the strikeouts in AAA.
This is where the season starts getting interesting for Cubs fans. Let’s see what we can pull out of our hat.
I feel bad for the Cubbies and their long time loyal fans but Rome wasn’t built in a day….
Expect to wait a full season, perhaps two, before there will be a difference in the organization, and on the field. It takes that long just to weed out the deadwood, the malingerers, the naysayers and the underachievers.
Epstein and Hoyer know how to build a winner. But, like rebuilding a classic car, it takes a while to dismantle the old machine, locate and order replacement parts, put them in, tune it up and put the final product on display.
Get the worst record in baseball and draft the best player in the country possible. They aren’t going to make a run for a couple years, so they might as well get the best picks they can.
Dempster is by all accounts a real nice guy but frankly, he’s a mediocre pitcher in the AL and his fastball is 89 at this point in his career. I don’t see anyone dumb enough to give up a real prospect for him. Garza is the one chip they hold and I think Theo will correctly sell high on him this year.
Supply and demand.
Pitching down the stretch by the deadline is a premium asset.
The Cubs can get at least a top 5 organizational pitching prospect.
Speaking of Twins I see Francisco Liriano is back in the rotation.
So why would the Twins want Dempster?
Don’t listen to what they say, but watch what they do. The Cubs are cleaning the majority of the sunk costs off the books while creating depth in the SP department and minors. They have eaten Zambrano’s and Byrd’s 2012 salary and will probably eat Dempster’s by the deadline (hopefully for a good pitching prospect). They will finish in the bottom 3 of the majors this year and get a top draft pick next year. Going into the 2013 season, they will only have $35M committed to payroll ($19M of which is Soriano’s). Let’s hope the Cubs can get an AL team to take him next year with the Cubs eating all of his 2013 salary. Going into the 2013 off season, look for them to sign at least 1 of the top pitching FAs that is between the age of 25-29. If Greinke, Hamels, A. Sanchez, E. Santana, and McCarthy don’t sign extensions the Cubs will be in on them. Bottom line is that nobody should be surprised that the Cubs are horrible this year. They are laying the foundation for the 2013-2016 seasons.
I think Theo’s done an awesome job so far, and the clubhouse seems to be in sync with the front office. I believe Cubs are gonna be good in 2-3 years. Real good.