Ryan Dempster to Test Market

I saw this on Friday night, but they were drunk college students.

The Cubs hoped to get Ryan Dempster re-signed before he reached free-agency, but according to Ken Rosenthal, Dempster has chosen to see what else is out there. I'm guessing that the Cubs excessive spending is starting to catch up to them, and they probably talked about giving him something that he feels he can top. I still expect the Cubs to be in on Dempster, but they may not win considering the number of teams always looking for top-tier starting pitching. So, should your favorite team try to sign him?

He is going to be 32 next season, so a five year deal is a really big risk. He also just undertook a jump of 140 innings over last season. However, it is impossible to deny the effect he had on the Cubs this season. He went 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA in 206.2 IP and should get a few Cy Young votes. As for his peripherals, his K/9 was 8.14 (actually higher than when he was a closer), but he does walk people as his BB/9 of 3.31 shows (but it was better than when he was a closer). His BABIP was .286, so he didn't benefit from that. His LOB% was 76.7, which is actually a tad high. And, he's also a groundball pitcher with a GB/FB of 1.51 with his excellent two-seamer. However, his FIP was 3.41, so he seems to been a little lucky somehow (how? I am not sure, but his HR/FB of 7.7% was a little low).

His stats indicate that his season was pretty legitimate, but we all knew he was talented. The question is whether or not he is worth a five-year/$80M or more contract. The answer is difficult. He has the talent to be a legit no.2 guy, but no one is sure if he can repeat his performance. My guess is that his ERA will be closer to his 3.41 FIP from this year, but he shouldn't regress to 2003 (6.54 ERA). I wouldn't depend on him to be the ace for your staff for next season, but I think he's a better bet than AJ Burnett or Ben Sheets.