Ryan Dempster, who more than anyone, helped the Chicago Cubs to a second straight NL Central championship, was rewarded today with a four-year, $52 million contract by the Cubs.
Terms of the agreement: $4 million signing bonus; 2009- $8 million; 2010- $12.5 million; 2011- $13.5 million; 2012- option for $14 million
In the last week and a half, I’ve heard rumors bandied about of such a deal mostly in the context of “…in my opinion, Demp isn’t a 4-year, $50 mil kind of pitcher.”
You didn’t hear that from me, though. Like I said, Dempster was responsible more than any other pitcher on the Cubs for getting them as far they got. I admit I was a little dubious when I heard he was being transformed from a starter during the last off-season. But from the beginning, he took to it like Tony Oliva to Wii Baseball.
For the year, he was 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA. He initially had trouble winning on the road and ended up with a 3-3 record away from Wrigley despite a 3.13 ERA.
Dempster says he has a desire to get the Cubs to the World Series and that played into his decision of staying with the team. I’m sure the $52 mil didn’t hurt either.
Money well spent in my opinion. Now let’s see if there’s any money in the coffers for a leadoff hitter.