BOL Round Table

Here's the deal. Yeah, it's a 2 month rental. But we are trying to win the World Series. With RD, we've got a shot. Without him, no shot.

Have to have a guy like him in the post season.

Basically, the Cubs are selling high on Dempster's over-inflated numbers this year, something the Braves should have done with Jurrjens last year. Granted, Dempster is much more reliable than Jurrjens, on average. It's rather astonishing that Jurrjens has a career ERA of 3.5..

BIg BIG difference in the Cubs dealing Dempster and us last year with JJ. We were in a pennant race, the Cubs are not. They are sellers, we were not. I get hind sights 20-20 now and sure we could have gotten a nice deal for him last year - but last year we wanted the guy to anchor our rotation. And who knows, maybe the guy finds himself again? It better be soon (g)

Still, no way we would have dealt him last year regardless.

The Braves are about to give up on Jurjjens, and I am pretty confident that somebody is going to pick him up and get him fixed. He has a physical issue and a mechanical issue which has led to a decrease of 4-5 mph on his fastball -- 4-5 mph on a fastball is the difference between a front-line Major League starting pitcher and a guy who can't get hitters out at AA. If a pitcher gets off-track in Atlanta, Roger McDowell cannot fix them -- simple as that.

CrimsonKat, I really think the problem IS McDowell..Jurrjens, Hanson and Venters have lost velocity from last year. I realize they've all had problems staying healthy, but they should be back now. Tommy Hanson could throw 94-96 regularly 2 years ago, and now he can barely hit 91...

Just a sample of quotes on this trade from twitter:

Joe Sheehan (Sports Illustrated/NBC Sports): "There's no way gap between Randall Delgado and Ryan Dempster over 12 starts is worth trading Randall Delgado's next five years for."

Dave Weekley (Baseball Writer/Announcer): "Theo turned 9 weeks with Dempster into controlling Randall Delgado for 5 years, who COULD develop into top tier starter -- Advantage Cubs.

Scott Coleman (Editor of Braves' magazine Talking Chop): "If it's Randall Delgado and all the Braves get is Dempster, it will be Wren's worst trade in years."

You don't become an ace by pitching well for half a season with a last place club.

Roy Halladay is an ace. Justin Verlander is an ace. Jered Weaver is an ace.

Ryan Dempster is not an ace.

Look, I hope the trade works out and Dempster is lights out for the rest of the year. But for me, this trade has a very high likelihood of ending up like the Teixeira deal where Atlanta is wishing in a few years they had the pieces they gave up to get a very short-term gain. In fact, the Teixeira trade might be more justifiable in that they controlled his rights for two seasons rather than a couple of months.

Careful, Frank Wren might put our Gwinnett roster on the table to land a pitcher like Lincecum.