The Red Sox are out of the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes but there is still plenty of trade interest in the Cubs' starter. Here's the latest on today's Dempster-related news, with the freshest items at the top of the page.
- The Braves have had general discussions with the Cubs about Dempster "without getting real specific" about players, tweets FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.
- Dempster has had "occasional contact" with the Cubs' front office and hasn't been told a deal is imminent, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- The Dodgers and Cubs are negotiating over prospects and don't appear to be close to a trade tonight, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. While the Dodgers may be in the lead now, Heyman says that other teams are "still in the picture," including the Braves and Nationals.
- The Dodgers have made an official trade proposal for Dempster, reports Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago. The Dodgers are known to be the frontrunners for Dempster and the pitcher himself favors Los Angeles as his top destination if he is to be dealt, an important factor given his 10-5 trade protection rights. Levine isn't sure what the Dodgers' offer entails or if pitching prospect Zach Lee is involved, though the Cubs are known to be looking for young pitching above all else in trades.
- The Cubs will have a Triple-A pitcher on hand in St. Louis who will be ready to pitch in case Dempster is traded before his scheduled start against the Cardinals on Friday, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Is this pitcher Volstad or Wells? If it’s Volstad, be ready for a loss. The guy is pathetic. Wells isn’t nearly as bad, but has had more than his share of issues on the mound this year. Coleman is viable but I don’t know about that.
casey coleman was pulled from his Iowa start
probably cause he stinks this year
If it’s either of them, get ready for a loss. Cubs are hot right now though so who knows.
wells is on the DL right now
Probably Rusin
GMs and Mangers have been known to play the worst players if they’re far down in the standings this late in the season (Astros last year, and probably this year too). Expect Jed to do the same this year because the prize will be worth it under the new CBA.
I think the Cubs should let Dempster have one last hurrah before being traded. Give him one last chance to officially share a moment with the fans so they can cheer him goodbye.
Gonna miss ya Dempster, but best of luck to you wherever you go.
If the rotation holds up Dempster wouldn’t start at Wrigley again until July 31, so while it’s a nice thought, it’s probably time to trade him now. Besides, Theo didn’t come in here to kiss up to the fans. Theo came in here to win, and if he wants to win he’ll trade Dempster now at the height of his trade value instead of wait for one more “fan moment” and risk him going on the DL for the 3rd time this season.
But he’s scheduled for tomorrow so time shouldn’t be too much of an issue
They’re at St. Louis tomorrow.
Cubs fans generally swarm surrounding stadiums, at least from my experience. And it’d be silly ot to think there aren’t Cubs fans in St. Louis.
Yes, the Cubs should absolutely delay a trade, risking all the value he’s built up, risking injury, etc, just so Ryan Dempster can have a final outing for the fans in ST LOUIS!! Come on.
sorry man, it is sillier to risk something go wrong and get zero in return. Don’t get me wrong, this trade is going to suck for me, I am a huge fan of what he has done for the club over the years, but the best thing he can do for the Cubs, he did over his last several starts… he raised his value by being lights out. Not to mention, this trade sets the tone on what we could/should expect for Garza… A part of me still thinks there could be a shot we keep Garza until this time next year..
Or, if he gets roughed up, it could hurt his value. I wouldn’t want to take the chance.
um, most aware Cubs fans said their goodbyes last week. Don’t risk implosion or even worse, injury.
Volstad pitched the other night at AAA, so I doubt it will be him. I think Wells is on the Minor League DL too, so looks like he’s out. The Cubs just acquired a AAA-pitcher from the Red Sox, so maybe it will be him?
The Cubs just acquired Justin Germano from the Red Sox. I think he qualifies as an emergency starter from AAA.
The Cubs indicate that Coleman was pulled from Iowa just in case Germano doesn’t make it to STL in time for tomorrow’s game,remember, Germano can be a starter as well, which leads me to believe that Dempster is on his way out. Germano will start potentially and Coleman is his backup if he is not there in time.
Hope the Braves can get Dempster? But my guess is that he goes to the Dodgers.
If it is the Dodgers and Dempster goes 27 more innings without giving up a run, would it not be funny that he would break Hershiser’s record as a Dodger? I known it is not likely, but …
I can definitely see Dempster going to the Dodgers. He’s a very laid back personality and a great clubhouse presence. He would be a great fit along side Kershaw as they both have very low ERA’s this season. Dempster deserves this playoff opportunity.
Dempster deserves a ring. Wherever he goes, I will be rooting for them to take home the title.
If we used Lee to get Dempster then Ned should be fired on the spot. Nothing against Dempster though.
First thing that went through my mind.
Do the Dodgers realize that they need hitting more than pitching, they cannot score runs to save their lives
Probabably not, you should give Ned a call.
If Lee is involved Lahair or someone should be included…in my opinion!
LaHair has been useless since mid-May. Seriously, his numbers have been worse than Loney’s during that period. Utterly terrible.
LaHair at least slugged .400 in June. Loney: .234. That’s not a typo.
Since May 15:
LaHair: .221/.268/.338
Loney: .245/.288/.318
So they’ve had identical OPS (.606), but at least Loney has a slightly better batting average and plays superior defense. And you can’t deny that Wrigley Field is much easier to slug in than Dodger Stadium.
Loney has been awful and I’ve been vocal about wanting to replace him for years. I’ll be thrilled when we are rid of him. But LaHair simply isn’t an improvement.
… and Loney has slugged . 378 so far in July to LaHair’s . 314…
wow, they are both just awful
Wrigley is NOT much easier to hit a homerun at. Wrigley is at 1.73 Homeruns per game and Dodger is at 1.24.. Remember though that, that includes your extremely poor offense and playing the Giants a bunch.
Difference, LaHair is paid $452k, Loney earning his $6.3 million?
The Dodgers are stuck paying Loney regardless, so salaries are really irrelevant.
As a Cubs fan…you really don’t want LaHair, he kinda stinks. He made the All-Star team due to his hot start but he hasn’t really done crap since May.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for you guys to take him off the Cub’s hands, then they could get Brett Jackson some playing time at the Major League level.
dempster to the braves
The Braves need Dempster to start one of the double header games on Saturday…the trade needs to happen tonight.
braves won’t get dempster.they to stingy with the so called farm?
really now talent? tehran,delgado,minor are talent?all 3 suck!
as long as freddie runs that team,the braves are going home early again this year cause freddie will find a way to screw it up!
now i have gut instinct that the braves will go the cheapy route and bring ankiel back pffft wow what a great bat booster for lineup!
Here’s another possible clue to how soon this trade is going to happen…Dempster & his kid went out on the field at Wrigley before the game today to play catch. Not a usual thing. Saying goodbye to Wrigley? I say the trade is to the Dodgers along with a guy like Josh Vitters or one of the Cubs utility guys (Johnson or Miller) for Chris Reed, Gould & Fife.
The Cubs will want one of the Dodgers top pitching prospects, could be Webster, Eovaldi, or Withrow plus a lower level pitching prospect.
I would imagine at least one of Reed, Eovaldi, Gould and/or Webster would have to be involved. If the Dodgers needed to outbid other suitors I would hope Theo/Jed could swing a pair out of that group.
Lee is a longshot, but you never know with a team looking to make a big push, especially if we add LaHair into the mix.
If we can get two B/B+ arms out of this… that’d be huge.
you watch, frank wren will say” well we did the best we could” we will do the best can with what we currently have, sorry fans, no one was available that we liked. we have a strong rotation now that minor pitched one strong game hahahaha same o same o.