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To relive a bit of history with good guy family man Ryan Dempster. Piece of shit.
Every high priced veteran on the roster knew they were on notice going into the season, and likely not part of the team's long term plans. Ryan Dempster acknowledged this on many occasions, and publicly stated on many occasions that he would accept a trade if it helped the club get better. This falls right in line with his 'good guy' image he built up with fans during his tenure with the team. (Some) fans loved his impersonation of Will Ferrell impersonating Harry Caray, and Dempster would often joke with the media. He has the Dempster Foundation, which locally raises awareness for DiGeorge Syndrome/VCFS, which is a rare disorder his daughter has. As it turns out, Dempster isn't nearly the guy that he crafted his image to portray. 2 years ago, after manager Lou Piniella resigned, he was replaced by 3rd base coach Mike Quade. Quade had a good September and Dempster was publicly campaigning for Quade to get the job full time. He did, and Quade, as we would soon learn, was in way over his head. He let the veterans run the team until it crumbled in on itself. We would soon learn that Dempster liked Quade because he could do as he pleased. At least, until June 8, 2011. On that day, Dempster didn't get his way, and Quade pulled him from a game against the Pirates against Dempster's wishes. Instead of acting like an adult, Dempster went into the dugout and went on a belligerent tirade in the dugout on national television. Fast forward back to this year. Earlier this season, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer sat Dempster down and asked him about his willingness to accept a trade, as the team tried to rebuild. Epstein has to get Dempster's permission, as he had 10-5 rights. This means any player in baseball who had 10 years of service time and 5 years with the same team had the right to veto any trade. Dempster said he would accept a trade if it helped the team better and gave the team a list of approved teams. It was quickly learned that the LA Dodgers were Dempster's first choice, as his best friend and former teammate Ted Lilly is on the team. Epstein tried to negotiate with the Dodgers, but was unable to receive any fair offers. They also knew they were Dempster's first choice and felt they had the leverage. They were right, as Dempster should have never gone public with his desire to prefer LA. As the trade deadline approached, it was clear the Cubs were not going to receive a fair offer from the Dodgers for Dempster. About a week before the deadline, the Cubs received a high amount of interest from one of Dempster's other approved teams, the Atlanta Braves. Epstein told Dempster that the Dodgers was not a realistic option and that he should get ready to make a decision on the Braves in the coming days. A few days later, the Cubs and Braves reached an agreement that would send Dempster in exchange for 22 year old pitching prospect Randall Delgado. Epstein just had to get Dempster to rubber stamp it. However, in the hour that followed a Braves source leaked the information and reports of the trade quickly appeared on Twitter. Dempster reacted defiantly and quickly went on his Twitter to proclaim in all caps, "THERE IS NO TRADE". He rushed into the Cubs locker room and put on his jersey, where reporters were waiting. He quickly announced that he had been blindsided by the trade and felt wronged. Considering he had known for a week that the Dodgers were likely out and the Braves were interested, this was clearly a lie. Cubs fans were quickly disappointed as a great trade for the team was vetoed by Dempster. He told Epstein, "Not now" as he wanted to see if the Dodgers came through on an offer at the deadline. Unfortunately, that's not how trades work. While Dempster took his time, Atlanta grew inpatient and rescinded the trade offer. Instead, the Cubs sent them Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson for 2 lesser known prospects in good faith. The Dodgers continued to low ball the Cubs, assuming that they would have no choice, but to give in and make the trade anyway. In the last 15 minutes before the deadline, the Texas Rangers made an offer of 2 A level players for Dempster, which he approved. This trade was not as good for the Cubs as the Atlanta trade would have been, which destroys his argument that he'd do what's best for the team. No matter what he did or said in the media, he only goal was to end up in LA. His list of teams he was willing to go to turned out to be a farce, and he ended up wasting weeks of time that the Cubs were trying to make trades that never could be. He accepted the Rangers in a panic move, when he finally realized he wasn't going to LA. No one could understand this erratic behavior, except members of the media who held onto a story out of respect. However, the story was confirmed at the trade deadline. As it turns out, recently Dempster had been caught by his wife having an affair with the couple's nanny and was going through a divorce. His wife is from Atlanta, and this was the reason behind his last minute panic over going to a city where much of her family resides. Turns out it wasn't what was best for the Cubs, it was what's best for Dempster. He had made his entire image off being a family man and good teammate, only to have the curtain pulled as his Cubs career came to a close. An even more fitting end to the story, is that Atlanta is a NL team that plays in a pitcher friendly ballpark, which is ideal for Dempster's style of pitching. Instead he goes to a hitter friendly park in Texas and forced to face lineups with real hitters every night. In his first start with Texas last night, Dempster gave up 8 runs in 4 2/3 innings. Shoulda kept it in your pants, Ryan. It would have worked out better for everyone. Turns out you are nothing but a 'fake good guy'.
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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee
It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.
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