Dempster Signs Extension
The Cubs took their first dive into the free agent market by extending Ryan Dempster's contract for 3 years. It appears the deal is for $15.5 million total or about $5.17 per year.
Nice move, once again by Hendry, to pre-empt a bidding war and secure a solid if not spectacular player. Dempster's #'s since becoming a closer on May 9th:
4-0 1.85 ERA, 53/27 K/BB, 1HR, 46 IP
8.2 K/9, 4.2 BB/9, .15 HR/9, 1.96 K/BB
And for the season he has a sick 2.69 Groundball to Flyball ratio. The chances of him keeping up that HR/9 rate and G/F ratio are pretty slim, so I don't know if I expect him to be nearly the shutdown guy he's been so far this year, but I certainly expect him to be better than anything we've had since 2003. Now if we could talk Baker into letting him go more than one inning at a time on occassion, then we may have something special. Or still go after B.J. Ryan or Billy Wagner and have a lethal one-two combo from the right and left side.
All in all, good move in my book.
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