Dempster Injury Ultimately Hurts His Trade Value
By Rob Winn in News on Jun 19, 2012 7:00PM
Cubs veteran pitcher Ryan Dempster was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, squashing any hopes for a splashy trade in the near future. His string of 22 scoreless innings in his last three starts had Cubs fans hoping that Dempster's stock on the trade market was at an all-time high. But similar to anything Cubs-related, infinite patience is required.
As with any veteran pitcher, injuries are the main concern for the team trading for him. And now that Dempster has gone on his second DL stint of the year, red flags have officially been raised. However, the Cubs can easily point to the fact that Dempster has made over 30 starts and thrown 200 or more innings in the four years since he returned to a starter role.
There is the thought that the Cubs are simply holding Dempster back to wait until the trade deadline is closer, but that seems unlikely given his current streak and Theo Epstein's comments after the announcement.
Epstein refused to comment directly on trade rumors, but indicated that he will wait to resume trade talks until after Dempster returns to the mound. Addressing reporters he said, "Generally when players have these sort of minor injuries, it's typical to wait until they come back and re-establish health before engaging in any serious trade talks."
With the trade deadline still six weeks away, a trade is still likely to take place if Dempster can come back and pitch anywhere near the same level he was at before the injury. But what isn't known is whether or not this latest injury will embolden teams to hang on to the high-level prospects the Cubs are seeking in return.