Dempster's Sticking Around For 3 More Years

[Blueheart05]

 

As far as the rest of the pen, I'd pencil in Novoa, Ohman, and Wuertz. That only leaves one or two more spots.

 

Mitre is out of options, so a decision will have to be made on whether he starts, is traded, released, or uses up a spot in the pen.

 

A decision will also have to be made on Williamson. I personally think he'll be let go.

 

 

I think Willamson will stay. The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys. I also suspect Williamson will be far more effective after having the offseason to rehab and get stronger.

[CuseCubFan69]

The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys.

 

It's funny you say that. I'm sure Baker has suggested to Hendry that he sign Tommy John to be that lefty starter for 2006. Why get a cheap immatation?

[Blueheart05]

The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys.

 

It's funny you say that. I'm sure Baker has suggested to Hendry that he sign Tommy John to be that lefty starter for 2006. Why get a cheap immatation?

 

I'd be willing to take a risk on Willaimson and I think Hendry would as well. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to pickup a guy who the team figured wouldn't be effective in 2005 unless they had future aspirations...

[mg420]

The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys.

 

It's funny you say that. I'm sure Baker has suggested to Hendry that he sign Tommy John to be that lefty starter for 2006. Why get a cheap immatation?

 

I'd be willing to take a risk on Willaimson and I think Hendry would as well. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to pickup a guy who the team figured wouldn't be effective in 2005 unless they had future aspirations...

 

i hope the cubs take a pass on williamson & give jvb a real shot next year. somehow dusty seemed to have forgotten about him the last 3 weeks of the season along with rich hill. imagine that..

[TrueBlueCubFan]

The signing of Dempster is a good move. I would have preferred he got 2 yrs instead of 3. However, if JH didn't sign him before he filed for FA, he could have easily gotten 3 yrs from someone for more $ than what the Cubs signed him for.

Dempster's K/BB is a little reason for concern, but it's also possible even if he regresses a little he can still be an effective closer.

 

As far as Williamson is concerned, I think the Cubs will resign him. He may struggle in the beginning of next season, but it's very possible he will be solid in the 2nd half of 06'. His history shows he is a very good RP.

 

JVB may just need some more experience. The potential is there, just not sure he'll be with the Cubs the whole 06' season. We'll see how he does in ST.

[Magnetic Curses]

The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys.

 

It's funny you say that. I'm sure Baker has suggested to Hendry that he sign Tommy John to be that lefty starter for 2006. Why get a cheap immatation?

 

I'd be willing to take a risk on Willaimson and I think Hendry would as well. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to pickup a guy who the team figured wouldn't be effective in 2005 unless they had future aspirations...

 

i hope the cubs take a pass on williamson & give jvb a real shot next year. somehow dusty seemed to have forgotten about him the last 3 weeks of the season along with rich hill. imagine that..

 

jvb walks everyone he faces. until he can get a little control at the ML level, dusty is justified in sitting him.

[mg420]

The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys.

 

It's funny you say that. I'm sure Baker has suggested to Hendry that he sign Tommy John to be that lefty starter for 2006. Why get a cheap immatation?

 

I'd be willing to take a risk on Willaimson and I think Hendry would as well. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to pickup a guy who the team figured wouldn't be effective in 2005 unless they had future aspirations...

 

i hope the cubs take a pass on williamson & give jvb a real shot next year. somehow dusty seemed to have forgotten about him the last 3 weeks of the season along with rich hill. imagine that..

 

jvb walks everyone he faces. until he can get a little control at the ML level, dusty is justified in sitting him.

 

how do you have good control when you pitch ever 3 weeks? baker did the same thing to wellemeyer last year when he was pitching great & he hasnt been the same since.

[Magnetic Curses]

The Cubs can keep him cheaply and Hendry has a knack for taking risks on Tommy John guys.

 

It's funny you say that. I'm sure Baker has suggested to Hendry that he sign Tommy John to be that lefty starter for 2006. Why get a cheap immatation?

 

I'd be willing to take a risk on Willaimson and I think Hendry would as well. Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to pickup a guy who the team figured wouldn't be effective in 2005 unless they had future aspirations...

 

i hope the cubs take a pass on williamson & give jvb a real shot next year. somehow dusty seemed to have forgotten about him the last 3 weeks of the season along with rich hill. imagine that..

 

jvb walks everyone he faces. until he can get a little control at the ML level, dusty is justified in sitting him.

 

how do you have good control when you pitch ever 3 weeks? baker did the same thing to wellemeyer last year when he was pitching great & he hasnt been the same since.

 

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

 

What about a lack of sample size? 5 innings?

[Magnetic Curses]

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

 

What about a lack of sample size? 5 innings?

 

with how many walks? i'm sorry, my opinion may be tainted by memories of watching him throw the ball in the general direction of the plate, every time he got in the game, without having any success in the strike zone.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

 

What about a lack of sample size? 5 innings?

 

with how many walks? i'm sorry, my opinion may be tainted by memories of watching him throw the ball in the general direction of the plate, every time he got in the game, without having any success in the strike zone.

 

I think I only saw JVB pitch once, and don't remember him being that awful with control. Sure he had 8 walks in 5 innings, but it's 5 innings! One bad outing if you're a starter. It's basically nothing when evaluating JVB going forward. Now he has historically walked more guys then I'm comfortable with(around 3.6-3.7 per 9 IP), but that doesn't mean he should be buried because of 5 bad innings.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

 

What about a lack of sample size? 5 innings?

 

with how many walks? i'm sorry, my opinion may be tainted by memories of watching him throw the ball in the general direction of the plate, every time he got in the game, without having any success in the strike zone.

 

I think I only saw JVB pitch once, and don't remember him being that awful with control. Sure he had 8 walks in 5 innings, but it's 5 innings! One bad outing if you're a starter. It's basically nothing when evaluating JVB going forward. Now he has historically walked more guys then I'm comfortable with(around 3.6-3.7 per 9 IP), but that doesn't mean he should be buried because of 5 bad innings.

 

He walked 9 batters in 6.0 IP (3 strikeouts).

[mg420]

in the minors he had 29 bb in 62 ip in 04 and 22 bb in 54 ip in 2005. both years he had an era under 2.00. with those #'s, 9 bb in 5 ip points to misuse by baker as opposed to a major control issue. wuertz had a good year but historically is much more effective with a day or two of rest instead of getting sent out every day while jvb watches from the pen.

[Tim]

I'm not quite so quick to blame Dusty for the entirety of the wildness. The irregular usage certainly didn't help. But it could also very well be nerves that were getting to the kid in his first major league action.

 

Of course, it could be argued that the usage only compounds that because it creates extra pressure to be perfect.

[rawaction]

Van Buren doesn't have pinpoint control to begin with. I don't know if he will have the control to stick in the ML pen next year. His minor league walk totals are solid as a reliever, but he struggled with control as a starter. I think it only gets tougher with more patient professional hitters.

[cjbucks]

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

 

What about a lack of sample size? 5 innings?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but in order to pitch any innings you need to record some outs. If JVB walked everyone he faced he would have never recorded any outs?[/i]

[Lefty]

A terrible signing. This contract will dominate this board in 2007.

[Magnetic Curses]

A terrible signing. This contract will dominate this board in 2007.

 

why?

[Neuby]

I saw dempster is getting paid 4 million this season , how does his 1 million dollar Signing bonus get paid out?

[EricG]

2 million for this season.

[Neuby]

2 million for this season.

 

I meant for 2006 he will be getting 4 million and a 1 million dollar signing bonus does that mean it counts against next years payroll or does the 1 million dollar get paid out over the next three years.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 million for this season.

 

I meant for 2006 he will be getting 4 million and a 1 million dollar signing bonus does that mean it counts against next years payroll or does the 1 million dollar get paid out over the next three years.

 

I'm pretty sure that he gets all 1 million paid out next year, but LCCF and likely others believe that it gets paid out 333k per year.

[Careless]

OT: When I see all the Cub's signings of pitcher's coming off of injury, I always lament the fact they didn't retained John Lieber. We really could have used him these past couple years.

there was simply no way the cubs were even considering matching what the yankees paid leiber to rehab. They gave him what, $7 million for the 2 years? a year of rehab and the year coming back from rehab, and he wasn't a young man at the time

[Balsa]

all i know is that his walk rate is ridiculous. it does not reflect a simple lack of use.

 

What about a lack of sample size? 5 innings?

 

with how many walks? i'm sorry, my opinion may be tainted by memories of watching him throw the ball in the general direction of the plate, every time he got in the game, without having any success in the strike zone.

 

Yep. Every time I've seen him pitch, he can't get near the plate. He can't be allowed to pitch in close games because he walks so often. No way I'm blaming Dusty for this one. As far as I'm concerned, Dusty's handling it correctly.

[Lefty]

A terrible signing. This contract will dominate this board in 2007.

 

why?

 

Because he will be lousy or hurt and the Cubs will be stuck with the contract (see Remlinger, Mike).