Although he’s still on the disabled list, and almost certainly will be through the All-Star break, Ryan Dempster remains a heavily sought-after commodity on the trade market. Ditto his rotation-mate, Matt Garza, who is getting better with every start.
Sources tell Jon Heyman that the Dodgers are the favorite to land Ryan Dempster when he comes off the disabled list. The Cubs and Dodgers apparently haven’t spoken since the week before Dempster went on the DL, but someone close to those talks says “the Dodgers have a very good chance to land the veteran right-hander.”
We’ve talked about the Dodgers and Dempster before. Their depth in pitching prospects make them a good fit from the Cubs’ perspective, and it might just be a matter of convincing Dempster to head all the way out to L.A. (he has no trade rights), and a matter of finding the right mix of prospects to make for a fair return on a two-plus month rental. Other teams remain interested, and I don’t suspect we’ll have a resolution on this until the second half of July.
As for Garza, Ken Rosenthal reports that the Blue Jays are keeping in contact with the Cubs about the right-hander. Once again, this is no surprise, after the Blue Jays lost several arms in the span of a week, and after we heard of the Blue Jays’ interest in Garza all Winter. And, once again, the Blue Jays are a great fit from the Cubs’ perspective, as they are overflowing with excellent young pitching prospects. The Cubs’ asking price on Garza, who remains under team control through 2013, is quite high, according to Jayson Stark. He hears that the Cubs are expecting a Ubaldo Jimenez type package for Garza, built around at least two young, controllable, high-upside prospects (preferably pitchers).
Given the asking price and the still-developing market, it’s hard to expect Garza being dealt any time in the immediate future. But, it looks increasingly likely that he’ll be deal by July 31.