The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to improve their club before the July 31 trade deadline, and the starting rotation is one area that would benefit from a deal. Clayton Kershaw and Chris Capuano have been great all year, but Chad Billingsley is currently in a bad slump and Ted Lilly is expected to miss another month on the disabled list.
News came on Saturday that the Dodgers have an offer on the table with the Chicago Cubs to bring Ryan Dempster to L.A.
Here's the latest on the trade rumors front:
Cubs have at least 2 deals on table for Dempster. One from Tigers including young lefty and from Dodgers for two pitching prospects.
— George ofman (@georgeofman) July 14, 2012
Dempster is having a fine season, although he just recently came off the DL with an injured lat muscle. He features a record of 4-3 with an ERA of 1.99. The main reason for his success: he's walking nearly two fewer batters per-nine-innings this season than his career average. Dempster also has a BABIP of .241, which is rather low and lucky, meaning his ERA should increase a bit once everything balances out.
At the end of the day, Dempster would be a substantial improvement over Nathan Eovaldi and he's only under contract through the end of 2012. It appears the Cubs are ready to move him, and now it's just a matter of the Dodgers outbidding their competition.
As for what L.A. may offer, you would have to think Garrett Gould could be involved in the deal. He was the pitcher offered in the Carlos Lee deal before it was nixed.
For more on the Dodgers and their pursuit of Dempster, check out True Blue L.A.