A Cubs-Royals Trade Rumor Involving Dempster

[Backtobanks]

Assuming Pierre leaves, as a stopgap, how about Jones in center and Sanders in right until Pie is ready? Then, if Pierre is ready by the middle of next season, Jones could move back to right and Sanders becomes a weapon off the bench.

 

I assume you meant Pie. An OF of Murton, Jones, and Sanders would really be horrible. A deal for Brown or Sanders has to be looked at as a minor deal for a platoon player and not as a starter.

[TB_11]

I thought I'd pass this rumor on to see what folks think. This comes from one of my sources on the East Coast, who has some in-roads with Cub officials. This is the guy, who told me 3 weeks before it happened last offseason that the Cubs were the odds-on favorite to sign Wade Miller, so he has some credibility, though he's been wrong more times than he's been right (which describes just about everybody in this business).

 

Here's what he outlined. He started by saying, "hey, remember when Hendry traded Hundley for Karros and Grudzielanek?" He said there are a lot of moving parts, but here's the gist of what he's heard:

 

(1) The Cubs and Wood will agree to a one-year incentive laden deal to be a reliever with a team option for 2008. This will make for a very crowded "top heavy" bullpen.

(2) The Cubs think either Bob Howry or Michael Wuertz can be the closer in 2007. When I asked about Wood, he said they think Kerry will start slow, but he could be a candidate by mid-season.

(3) While Scott Eyre is more marketable, the Cubs prefer to trade Ryan Dempster, who has 2 years and $10.5M left on his contract. They've heard the Kansas City Royals have interest since they had the worst bullpen in 2006, but need the Cubs to offset the salary either through a player or cash.

(4) Royals have determined that the Cubs must take back either Emil Brown or Reggie Sanders. Brown is arbitration eligible; Sanders is under contract in 2007 for $5M.

(5) If the Cubs select Brown, they have to give KC around $3M in cash for 2007 and $2.5M in cash for 2008 plus a good pitching prospect. If the Cubs select Sanders, they have to give KC $2.5M in cash for 2008 plus a middle infielder prospect.

(6) In either case, the Cubs are off the hook for the $2.5M cash in 2008 if the Royals trade Dempster or if he elects free agency after 2007, his right as a player traded during a multi-year deal.

(7) The Cubs would plan to use Brown or Sanders as a platoon in right for Jones, a good stick off the bench, a DH in AL parks and a spot starter in LF to give Murton a rest.

 

 

What do you make of this? A bit far fetched on the one hand, but the financial dots are well connected, on the other hand.

 

Hoops

 

Those moves as they relate to how our bullpen would change look great - Dempster and his contract moved, Wuertz moved as a closer, and Kerry with a short-term incentive-laden deal would all be smart plays by Hendry.

 

Those moves as they relate to our offense are questionable if they are made with the intention of having either Sanders or Brown get significant playing time. If Jones must stay with the team (and I still don't think Hendry moves him this early since it would be a public indication that he shouldn't have been signed in the first place), then a platoon partner makes sense, but neither an Sanders or Brown look to be the best choice. Sanders is clearly aging, and Brown's number against lefties have been all over the place since 2005 to make any conclusions about how well he'll hit against them next year.

[frostwyrm]

Moving Dempster won't be any huge cause for celebration. It will require eating the bulk of his contract, and that will come straight out of the personnel budget. Unless you can find a GM with the word 'sucker' written on his forehead there won't be any pain-free way to make this type of truly awful contract disappear.

[nilodnayr]

Moving Dempster won't be any huge cause for celebration. It will require eating the bulk of his contract, and that will come straight out of the personnel budget. Unless you can find a GM with the word 'sucker' written on his forehead there won't be any pain-free way to make this type of truly awful contract disappear.

 

Calling Jim Bowden... Kidding aside, he'd be the first person I would call, given the organizations hatred of Ryan Church. Kearns is about as unhappy as player can be in Washington (of course this helps in luring Dunn). Bowden just might be the guy who will trade those two for Dempster, Jones, $, and some minor league talent. Dempster can shore up their pen or can be used as a starter. I think thats what the cubs will end up using him for, but there definitely seems a realistic way for us to get those two unhappy and unappreciated players from Washington.

 

In terms of this rumor, this is exactly the type of insignificant move that this team has shown us the past couple years. Would this move improve the team? Maybe. Is it a first stepping stone to help turn the worst team in the NL into a competitor? Definitely not.

[NCCubFan]

Assuming Pierre leaves, as a stopgap, how about Jones in center and Sanders in right until Pie is ready? Then, if Pierre is ready by the middle of next season, Jones could move back to right and Sanders becomes a weapon off the bench.

 

I assume you meant Pie.

Yes, that's what I meant.

[BigbadB]

I'm a bit confused why the Cubs would have to "toss in" a prospect if they were paying a significant portion of Dempsters salary.

 

Neither player excites me all that much.

 

It might be a better move to hold on to Dempster and see if he can build up some significant trade value at the deadline next year and put an end to this buy high, sell low mentality that Hendry seems to have gotten stuck in.

 

A lot of teams are in the hunt for relief help at the deadline.

[FergieJ31]

I'm a bit confused why the Cubs would have to "toss in" a prospect if they were paying a significant portion of Dempsters salary.

 

Neither player excites me all that much.

 

It might be a better move to hold on to Dempster and see if he can build up some significant trade value at the deadline next year and put an end to this buy high, sell low mentality that Hendry seems to have gotten stuck in.

 

A lot of teams are in the hunt for relief help at the deadline.

 

Yeah I'm not ready to throw Dempster under the truck this off-season, especially with rock-bottom trade value. He had a really solid April last year when the Cubs were on a roll, I think he had 6-7 saves in that month alone. Let's see what he can do under a new skipper and hopefully more regular work.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Ryan Dempster 2007 = Joe Borowski 2006?? Relievers are such a fickle bunch....I'd still prefer to pawn Dempster off on someone else and free up the cash, but there IS a chance he can be more effective next year. Some have noted that he looked hurt in the second half, maybe he pitched injured, who knows.

[Sammy Sofa]

I think moving Eyre is a much better option at this point. He's much less a tough sell than Dempster, you'll rpobably get better return and likely free up more money.