Who evidently had a bad day what with all the attention he was getting because he wouldn't consent to a trade to Atlanta and then that mean old Dale Sveum took him out of a game in which he pitched OK but not well enough to win so he had to attack a drink dispenser and throw a juvenile tantrum and then go off and give a news conference where, if you look carefully, he did not apologize to the fans or his teammates or the manager, but instead asserted a blanket right to get pissed off about things in general.
I can't figure this out, but how is it the Cubs always seem to get brats like this and sign them to awful contracts. Was it just Hendry, or do other teams have the same issues but just less attention? In any case, this whole affair has turned into quite a mess.
All this puts Epstein and co. in a bit of a pickle. They had worked out a pretty good trade for a middle of the rotation rental starter who is more likely in the long run to give you the kind of game he pitched yesterday. If the Braves are indeed out of the running for Demp's somewhat overvalued services, the Cubs are left with a choice of taking lesser value from the Dodgers or letting the peevish star finish out his contract, receiving nothing in return at the end of the season unless they risk offering Dempster about $12MM to get a supplemental draft choice should he opt out.
That's a real risk because he might just take them up on the offer and they are stuck with him for another season. Actually, I don't expect much out of him for the remainder of the year just because of all the controversy surrounding his supposed departure. Cubs fans, as Dempster has somewhat belatedly discovered, are not that good at weighing all the ins and outs of this kind of dispute. They are simply Cubs fans, not fans of particular athletes unless you get down to players of the caliber of Ernie Banks or something. So fans now perceive that the Cubs could have taken a step toward the golden future by acquiring the highly valued Randall Delgado.
Everything now hinges upon the future for the true loyalist. Thus Dempster will more than likely discover his true destiny as a pariah. This incident will dog his every step while he remains in a Cubs uniform. Few players can handle that sort of stress. Judging by his post-game performance yesterday, Dempster is not one of them. So look for a steady deterioration of skills through the rest of the year and a steady diminution of his value on the free agent market. The Cubs would be well-advised to get what they can now and put this episode behing them.
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