Dempster re-signs with Cubs for 4 years/$52 mil

[And That]

Link.

 

Not "official" official, but the deal is expected to be inked today. One less arm on the market. Seems like a pretty fair deal.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Hopefully that takes them out of the hunt for Sheets.

[Patrick425]

Seems like a relative bargain for the Cubs. Although, I guess one could question if Dempster could ever repeat a season like he just had.

[Oldcity]

I'm actually surprised he didn't get a bit more. Obviously he wasn't too set on getting the biggest contract possible at all costs.

[brains and braun]

Makes that Suppan contract look REAL good by comparison.

[Fatter than Joey]

yeah -- Good deal for the Cubs.

[splitterpfj]

I thought he might get more, as I did with Affeldt....could it be....financial restraint?

[MillerParkSouth]

Cubs better hope that last year was the start of a trend and not a fluke.

[fondybrewfan]

If Demp pitches like he did this past year that is a great contract, if he pitches like the old Ryan Dempster... Not so Much. They now have their first 4 SP pretty much set with Zamrano, Harden, Dempster, and Lilly. Lilly is really the only one that doesn't have a major question mark attached so that group has the potential to be extremely good but also the potential to be an absolute mess. If the Cubs gets a couple injuries they are pretty much screwed since they don't have a whole lot of depth. I would think that if they traded for Peavy they would have to trade Marquis first. You can't have Marquis as your long man making as much money as he does. Especially since Demp is getting a big bump in salary, Peavy would bring even more. The Cubs are really loading up on long term contracts.

[brains and braun]

Even if he doesn't pitch like last season, it's hard to see that as a bad deal for the Cubs. I really hoped he would cost them more money. Financial restraint? I doubt it. I think it's more like cheap gas. Next thing you know gas will be back at $4 a gallon, and C.C. will be making historic money in the Bronx or on the coast.

[homer]

I think the Cubs are going to get really old really fast. They are going to have a few albatross contracts on their hands in two or three years. (Soriano, Dempster, Zambrano to name a few)

 

It does help them in the short term however.

[Fatter than Joey]

Cubs better hope that last year was the start of a trend and not a fluke.

 

Dempster has been a pretty solid pitcher overall for the Cubs since the acquired him-- I am pretty sure they are not concerned about what happened in 2001.

 

Dempster made over 7 mil this year (2008) -- this seems like a pretty reasonable 4 year deal to me. It has its risks, but I think if over 4 years Dempster is league average,

they will have done well.

[monty57]

I would've thought it would cost a lot more to bring him back. That's too bad for us, as the Cubs rotation is once again stacked, and they have more money to go after other players.

 

I agree that in a few years they'll have some old players signed to high money deals, but they still seem like the odds-on favor to be the team to beat in the NL at this point, especially if Manny leaves LA and CC signs with an AL team.

[Ennder]

In the rumors thread we were thinking something like 3 years at $14M each so that is pretty much in line with expectations given the extra year. Seems like a good signing by them, much better than say the Soriano and Zambrano deals.

[clancyphile]

Figure this just became the floor for keeping Sheets.

[fallingleaves]

Overall i think a bad move, the Cubs are becoming the Yankees, what ever happened to developing their own talent? 4 at 52 is ridiculous for a 4th or 5th starter. Then again, look at what we gave Suppan.

[Oldcity]

Good short term but that will be pretty ugly when they're paying him like 15 mil when he's 35. Oh well. At least all the Cubs players can grow old together.

[rluzinski]

Dempster will be 32 years old and had a career year. The chances of him having a sub-3.0 ERA next year is basically non-existent, which is reflected in the contract he just signed. I think it's very fair. He's probably a little underpaid the first couple of years and will be overpaid the remaining 2 years.

[danzig6767]

Dempster will be 32 years old and had a career year. The chances of him having a sub-3.0 ERA next year is basically non-existent, which is reflected in the contract he just signed. I think it's very fair. He's probably a little underpaid the first couple of years and will be overpaid the remaining 2 years.

That's pretty much my thinking, plus he seems to like playing where he does. Getting 52 million dollars is a lot of money and sometimes leaving where you're happy, just to maybe get a few more millions elsewhere isn't worth it. The Cubs made a fair contract offer and if Dempster had waited around like say a Boras client to see if anyone else offered more, the Cubs could have moved on to another starting pitcher.

 

 

Overall i think a bad move, the Cubs are becoming the Yankees, what ever happened to developing their own talent? 4 at 52 is ridiculous for a 4th or 5th starter. Then again, look at what we gave Suppan.

At least for the Cubs, Dempster throws hard, gets strikeouts, and limits home runs pretty well. He won't repeat the year he had last season, but i'd take Dempster any day over Suppan. Unlike Suppan, Dempster doesn't give up a ton of hits and his very low homers allowed total of last year wasn't some huge abberation, even though odds are he'll give up a few more in the future.

[brewers4eric]

Based on his performance last year, it seems like a reasonable contract. As others have pointed out, however, it will be interesting if he repeats his stats over the course of 4 years.

 

Personally, I think he'll sprain his wrist repeating that strange glove twisting action that he does during his delivery. Has anyone else noticed that?

[Patrick425]

brewers4eric wrote:

---

Personally, I think he'll sprain his wrist repeating that strange glove twisting action that he does during his delivery. Has anyone else noticed that?

I believe he does that to ensure he's not tipping his pitches. Hitters and coaches can pick up on the slightest of glove movement when pitchers change their grip on the ball. So if he does the same exaggerated movement every time with his glove, it makes it more difficult to pick up on any grip change he may be doing.

[Tbadder]

considering what the Brewers are paying Suppan this was an excellent deal for the Cubbies. Dempster, because of the years in the bullpen, is a young 32. I bet he's still pitching well when he's 36. If he does stumble, put him back in the pen. It's expensive, but he could be effective again, and Chicago is a big market so they can afford a few mistakes. 15 million in four years could be the cost for a below average starter free agent anyways. I think he'll be better than Sheets in four years.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Dempster is not better than Sheets today and he never will be.

[Tbadder]

I don't think he's better than Sheets today, although with the lastest injury you never know. As far as four years from now, I think we best wait and see. But I take your point.