Indications are that the Cubs and star pitcher Ryan Dempster are making progress on a deal that would keep Dempster on the North Side team.
"We went him back and he wants to stay with us,'' a Cubs person told SI.com. "Hopefully we can get this done quickly and move on from there.''
While they've expressed interest in star Padres pitcher Jake Peavy, there's no indication of any potential deal with San Diego, which is said to be less than enamored with the Cubs' prospects.
Foxsports.com reported the deal with Dempster would be for slightly more than $50 million over four years for the pitcher who went 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA for them in his first year as a starting pitcher since 2003.
Cubs GM Jim Hendry couldn't immediately be reached this morning but Hendry, citing the team's long-running success with keeping players they wanted to keep, expressed faith to SI in September that they could reach an agreement with Dempster.
Melissa Haro
Brooklyn Decker
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The Cubs absolutely need to sign Dempster. While I'm not sure how he will hold up over 4 years, this is a team that is built to win now. With the fragile Rich Harden and the workhorse amount of innings that Zambrano has logged over the last 6 years, either could go down at any given time. Add into that mix good Ted Lilly, bad Ted Lilly, and the always unreliable Jason Marquis, this signing is a must. I'll also add, that I think they need to give up somebody good to get Peavy here to really solidify this thing and finally win it all.
Axl Rose
Phoenix , AZ
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Jason Marquis is gone, he will not be on this team come Spring
Maddux
Chicago , IL
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