My guess is that Dempster really wants to start and began pushing pretty heavily for that chance last season. The Cubs told him to wait until this year. He waited and now Lou and the Cubs have promised him the chance to start. In all liklihood, they may be less than enamored with that idea, but it's a promise they've already made to Ryan. So, to solve the problem, they'd prefer to move him in a trade and let his role as either starter or bullpen arm be someone else's problem.