Ryan Dempster made the conversion from closer to starter for the 2008 season. This conversion was a success as he won 17 games with an ERA of 2.96. He followed up his 2008 season by posting an ERA of 3.65 for 2009. In 2009 he proved his season in 2008 was no fluke. You would think that a pitcher putting up these numbers would be highly thought of, but being in Chicago I rarely see Dempster get the respect I feel he deserves.

When people mention some of the bad contracts Jim Hendry has handed out and  Dempster’s name continues to be mentioned. I could see why some would say he is overpaid if he signed a deal similar to CC Sabathia, but he is not getting paid ace money. He is being paid like a number two starter and so far he has pitched like one.  He signed a 4 year $52 million deal following the 2008 season. Dempster had a 3.6 WAR in 2009. Using the value of $4.5 million a win, his 2009 season was worth approximately $16.4 million. He made $9 million in 2009 and I would say that they got good value here. Aside from the meaningless win total stat he was pretty much the same pitcher in 09 that he was in 08. The only difference between the seasons was a more reasonable homerun rate and a higher BABIP. His groundball and contact rates were the same. So in essence he was the same pitcher in 09 than he was in 08 and yet people say he is not worth the money.

People in the Chicago media think of Buehrle as the better pitcher, but for the last two years Dempster has been more valuable. Dempster has been worth 8.7 wins the last two years and Buehrle has been worth 7.9 wins. Another pitcher that is similar to Dempster is John Lackey. Lackey has been worth 5.9 wins the last two seasons, which is about 3 less than Dempster. Lackey signed a 5 year $82.5 million deal and has been putting up similar numbers to Dempster and yet cost $30 million more. So I would say the Cubs are getting good value compared to some other pitchers. I will admit that I would love to get a Roy Halladay type pitcher for an average of $13 million a year, but that is not realistic. Of course we would all like the most value for the money, but so far Dempster has been worth his money. It’s possible he’s not worth his contract in 2012 when he is making $14 million, but for now it’s unfair to say he has been overpaid.

Hendry has had his share of bad contracts like Alfonso Soriano and Aaron Miles, but Dempster is not one of them despite what the Chicago media wants to believe.