Dempster

The Cubs came to terms with Ryan Dempster with a 4 year $52mil contract.

Fantasy Owners...DO NOT DRAFT HIM unless he is going to be your 3-5 starter. Take a look at his stats and you will see that his IP'ed spiked last year after being converted back to a starter.

The last time he pitched over 200 innings was way back in 2001. In the past 4 years (04-07) he has pitched a total of 254.1 innings which is only 47.2 innings more than what he threw in 2008. How is he going to react and feel when next year rolls around, nobody knows.

Yes, there are pitchers who can make this jump without feeling anything, health wise, but those pitchers are far and few between. If you want to take a chance go right ahead but I personally would take a chance on a hitter than a pitcher like Dempster.

Kerry Wood

Kerry Wood of the Cubs was reassured by Lou Piniella he is still the closer for the Cubs even after blowing 3 saves in his last 4 chances. I don't buy this at all. A closer who is blowing saves on a consistent basis will not last long as a closer and for owners who have Wood, you better make sure you have some insurance. Go out and grab Bob Howry or Carlos Marmol of the Cubs just in case Wood is replaced. After Ryan Dempster left the bullpen for the starting rotation the only people left in line for the closer position is Howry and Marmol.

Owners should keep a CLOSE eye on this situation because if Wood continues on the path of blown saves THERE WILL be a change of pitcher when the 9th innings rolls around.

Nice Starts

My man Dustin McGowan of the Blue Jays had a beautiful start. Wish he went a little deeper but it's only the second week of the season. Love the stats though. 5.1IP, 7H, 2ER, 3BB, 7K's and that where his value lies...look at that K ratio.

Zach Greinke of the Royals just showed us why he's touted as being a solid number 2 pitcher in any rotation and maybe number 1. Stat line = 8IP, 6H, 0ER, 2BB, 2K. Wish he had more K's.

Ryan Dempster of the Cubs, a converted closer, had a nice outing. 7IP, 1H, 2BB, 5K. Impressive!