Cubs Lock Up Dempster - UPDATE 9am
November 18, 2008 by Sandy Gemmiti
Filed under Cubs, Major League Baseball
4 years at 52 million for Dempster to stay with the Cubbies. What do you folks think?
I will be back later with my thoughts.
…………………………………………………………………
Alright sorry it took so long for me to get back with my thought but I was busy at the rink last night.
As some folks have mentioned below this looks like a pretty good deal for the Cubs. I think with the offer a guy like AJ is getting from the Yankees Dempster could of got much more money if he shopped himself around more. I get the impression that Dempster very much likes being a part of the Cubs tradition and wants to be apart of the team that wins the World Series. I don’t think you can ask for much more out of your #3 starter. I know he was the game 1 starter in the playoffs but I wasn’t in love with that strategy. I think the Cubs pitchers are 1. Zambrano, 2. Harden, 3. Dempster, 4. Lilly. This rotation is still very strong with our without the addition of Jake Peavy. Sure the Cubs would love to add Peavy but at what cost? Peavy is getting older and lets be honest, how much better can our pitching get?
The real Cubs problem is getting in a left handed bat in the middle of the order. My vote would be for Booby Abreu if they are going to keep the rest of the roster in check. Abreu who I won’t deny is getting older at 34 but he still had a nice year in New York batting .296 with 20 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored. Bobby also has the ability to nab you 20 stolen bases which never hurts.
My strategy if I was going to make a move for Peavy would be the following.
Try and move DLee to the Padres for Peavy and add more players on both sides. Then sign Mark Teixeira to play 1st and problem solved. The super switch hitter could provide the pop from both sides of the plate whenever needed.
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November 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Good deal, of course Dempster is not a lock to repeat his numbers, but as long as he doesn’t totally fall off the map he’ll be worth the 13 million a year. I would have prefered 3 years if I was a Cubs fan, but better to keep him and worry about that 4th year later then let him walk and have to overpay for a mediocre talent . For years 1-3 (and most likely beyond), the Cubs should be very competitive for a World Series title.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
the per year number seems high, but inflation will fix that over the next few years.
Yankees offered 5 years and 80 million for A.J. Burnett, makes the dempster signing look like a steal
November 18th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Yeah Scoot, as a Yankee fan all I can do is shake my head in disappointment if Burnett takes that (if he was really offered that as well). Burnett has a lot of talent, but if you look at his numbers, aside from strikeouts, he was a league average pitcher last year. Also is a coincidence that he only throws 200 IP in contract years?
The two guys I wanted no part of were Lowe and Burnett, and I could make the exception for Lowe if it were a 3 year deal. Giving Burnett 5 years is mind boggling, especially since he’ll be 32 when the season starts and the contract won’t expire until he’s 37. Does anyone truly believe he’ll still have an electric fastball at 37, or even 35?
Anyways I’ll blog more on that in the coming days, but as you said when you hear that offer, the Dempster deal at $13 million a year looks a lot better. Now if only the Cubs could do me a favor and sign Abreu
November 19th, 2008 at 6:14 am
very solid move by the cubs……….any other area they may look to improve ?
November 19th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Just dont look for Abreau to ever do anything say like running into a wall or make a diving catch that does not involve him sliding feet first.
When he was here in philly he said he wouldn’t leap into a wall or dive head first to make a catch because he refused to go all out in any attempt that would cause him a chance to be injured.
His bat i’d think would be good for you lineup though.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am
His bat really is the focus. Our pitchers are so wonderful we don’t have to worry about many mistakes in the outfield
seriously though the Cubs are in serious need to a power left handed bat. That has to be concern #1 after watching how badly they needed one on the Dodgers series.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Don’t get me wrong bobby has a good arm just not the commitment to go all out to make plays defensively.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Yeah if you pull the stats Bobby was statistically the worst outfielder in the American League. He still has a solid arm but its not just his lack of love for the walls, he just doesn’t have the range anymore. You’ll see his stolen bases are down and he even when he tries he gets thrown out quite often.
But….he is a left handed bat which the Cubs need, he’ll take a ton of walks (perfect 3 hitter in front of Ramirez to make up for Soriano, just ask Arod), he’s not bad at all against lefties, hits for a decent average and despite his homerun rate decreasing, he could see it bump up a bit in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
If you can get him for 3 years at $14 a year, I’d say do it.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Very true joe, he is really a shell of himself…………
November 19th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I’m not at all trying to say I love Abreu or anything but he fits the bill perfectly for what the Cubs are looking for. Sure he doesn’t have the range anymore like Joe mentions but Fukudome has wonderful range and could cover some of the ground Bobby can’t get to.
Without making a trade I would say Abreu is the best option for the Cubs at this point. Bringing in a solid Lefty bat is the #1 concern for the Cubs. Like Joe say he would do a great job in the middle of this order. The lack of left handed hitting was front and centre in the series loss against the Dodgers.
If you go back and watch that series again and say we will give you the entire roster back, what do you change to win the series? The answer would be bring left handed hitters….and maybe not start Dempster game one, and make errors all over the place…but you get my point
November 19th, 2008 at 9:51 am
People thought Edmonds was done before he put on the Cubs uniform. He did a very nice job and I would say everyone would agree Abreu has more in the tank than Jim. Maybe not with the glove but with the bat…no question.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:29 am
The Royals just traded for Coco Crisp..does this make a guy like Teahen available to the Cubs??
November 19th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Yep it does Sandy:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/11/cubs-targeting.html
I also mentioned this in my blog above, someone figures to be moved from that outfield, either Teahen or DeJesus.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I would imagine Teahen to be the guy.