By Dave Van Dyck, Chicago Tribune –
CHICAGO — Like a good soldier, Ryan Dempster has done his part — pitching 33 straight shutout innings and agreeing to waive his no-trade rights.
So now it is up to the Cubs’ hierarchy to find a new team for him before the July 31 trading deadline. Ironically, he is pitching his best baseball while his team is trying to use him to build for the future.
(PHOTO: Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Carlos Marmol celebrates his ninth save of the season as the Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1 on, Saturday, July 14, 2012, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.)
“I understand the business side of baseball, too,” Dempster said after Saturday’s 4-1 victory over the Diamondbacks. “You better your team for the future by acquiring some guys. But I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to what it might feel like to be somewhere else.
“Right now I’m just enjoying playing here and winning today and being part of this. It’s a nice run we’re on, like (10 of 14) games we’ve won and we just want to keep it going.”
Cubs’ President Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have spoken to Dempster about the possibility of a trade, but don’t give him running accounts of their dealings.
“If the time comes that we need to loop him in, we’ll do that, but I don’t think that’s what he wants or we want,” Hoyer said.
Dempster has pitched 11 shutout innings since returning from the disabled list for a strained latissimus dorsi muscle. Saturday, he proved his health by scattering four hits and three walks. The 33 scoreless innings is the club’s longest such streak since Ken Holtzman in 1969 and is the longest in the major leagues this season.
Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl that Dempster will wind up with the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox or some other contender. And he refused to say which one he might, or might not, prefer.
“Not really, I just enjoy playing for the Cubs right now,” he said.
Prove it: Hoyer was asked if former top draft choices Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters could be promoted in September or before, like Anthony Rizzo was.
“Sure but those guys need to force the issue,” he said. “Like we talked about with Rizzo, they need to prove to us they are ready and make it clear … then I think that is something we will see.
“But we want to make that a precedent, when a prospect like (Rizzo) really bangs down the door then they get up here, not because of an injury or because we want to give them a taste. We want it to be because they earned it.”
Jackson was hitting .259 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs and Vitters .304 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs for Triple-A Iowa.
Draft doings: The first draft for the Theo Trio — Epstein, Hoyer and Jason McLeod — is over with the top 20 choices all signed under baseball’s new rules.
“It’s nice to get that done,” Hoyer said. “Given the number of pitchers we took, to a certain extent we won’t see a lot of these guys getting after it until next year because some of these guys have pitched a lot. It’s just a great feeling to get so many guys in.
“But it’s not just about one draft, it’s about having a lot of good drafts and deep drafts.”
Extra innings: In 15 games against the D’backs at Wrigley Field, Alfonso Soriano is 22-for-53 (.415) with eight homers and seven doubles. … The Cubs have won six of their last eight against left-handed starters, but still are only 9-18 in that category.
