Cubs Close With Dempster

[love_that_reefer]

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the Cubs are close to re-signing Ryan Dempster to a four-year contract.
No word yet on the money involved, but previous reports had the Cubs offering him around $13 million per season. Rosenthal speculates that bringing Dempster back "would not necessarily make the Cubs less likely to trade for" Jake Peavy.

Dempster was a great fit for the Cubs going 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA this past season. More importantly, he went 14-3 at Wrigley. A four year deal is just about right for the 31 year old who is coming off his first year being a starter after two seasons closing out games. This move will set the wheels in motion for a lot of teams because Dempster was a target of many teams. Congrats on the Cubs retaining a good pitcher! Cubs will have a good chance to repeat as NL Central champs.

[cjkalt]

repeat as NL Central champs... and still lose in the 1st round

[love_that_reefer]

Its official

Cubs re-signed RHP Ryan Dempster to a four-year, $52 million contract.
The fourth year is actually a player option. Dempster gets a $4 million signing bonus, $8 million next year, $12.5 million in 2010 and $13.5 million in 2011. It will be his choice whether he returns for 2012 at $14 million. Dempster receives the massive deal even though he's had just two good seasons as a starter, those coming eight years apart. He was one of the NL's top pitchers last season, and his peripherals suggest that he can keep it up. Still, his previous record makes him difficult to trust.

Pretty good deal for the Cubs. It's weird to see these signing bonuses in baseball but we best get used to it.