It’s a seller’s market this trade season in MLB, and one of the top attractions among starting pitchers—in fact, likely THE top attraction—is the Cubs‘ Ryan Dempster.
Here’s why.
For one thing, Dempster may end up being the best pitcher on the market, with extensions for the Phillies‘ Cole Hamels and the Brewers‘ Zack Greinke reportedly coming. And even if those extensions don’t get done, there is no guarantee that either will be offered up for sale.
But Dempster is certainly available, as the Cubs try and build for the future. As good as he is pitching right now, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have little use for a pitcher who is a free agent after the season and will be 36 next season.
Meanwhile, his recent performances have certainly increased his value to other teams. Saturday’s performance has improved his scoreless streak to 33 innings, tied for the best ever by a Cubs pitcher.
Dempster, who allowed four hits in six innings, matched the Cubs mark set by Ken Holtzman in 1969.
Another reason why Dempster may end up being the top starter on the market is that, with the additional Wild Card spots, more teams are expected to be buyers than ever. But the Cubs, despite their recent run of solid play, have no chance of winning anything this year, so they are sellers.
Therefore, the combination of fewer starting pitchers being available, Dempster’s historic performance and their being fewer sellers this year have resulted in at least 10 teams being interested in Dempster, according to a post on MLBTradeRumors.com.
The report claims that the Cubs are willing to eat part of Dempster’s remaining salary (approximately $7 million) in order to obtain better prospects in a trade.
With the Tigers reportedly among the teams interested in Dempster, I wonder if they would be willing to part with hard-hitting third baseman Nick Castellanos in a trade. Although that is unlikely for a rental, it just depends on how desperate they are to try and win their division. .
Interestingly, the White Sox are also among the teams listed in the report.
The bottom line is that the Cubs, who have not had much luck, may have picked a good time to rebuild. Players like Dempster, Matt Garza and even Alfonso Soriano should generate a lot of interest.
And that will go a long way toward expediting the rebuilding process.
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