Cubs - Signed Dempster

The signing still isn't official and the contractual terms haven't been reported other than something in the $12-$14 million a year range.

If you told me a year ago that the Cubs would do this and I wouldn't burst out in hysterical laughter, I'd think that the Earth was sucked into some creepy Through the Looking Glass world in which I have to watch out for the Jabberwocky and the Lion and the Unicorn sit around eating cake and the Walrus and the Carpenter eat sentient talking clams and Ryan "The Dumpster" Dempster is a good starting pitcher.

I don't quite know how he did it other than throwing a few more fastballs than usual, but Dempster did it, kept the ball in the park, and was an important part of the team, helping replace Rich Hill, who suddenly had trouble keeping his pitches within the same congressional district as the mound. The Cubs are probably overpaying a bit on a pure value standpoint, but as one of the best teams in the NL, it makes sense to overpay a little to keep October games on the schedule, especially with the stock of some of the other prospective replacements dropping a bit in the last year.

ZiPS Projection - Ryan Dempster
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            W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA   ERA+
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2009       11   9  27  27  181  174   82  17  73 151  4.08   111         
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Top Comps:  Mike Krukow, Ken Hill

ERA+    %
Top 1/3 48
Mid 1/3 32
Bot 1/3 20