The Detroit Tigers are rumored to be interested in trading for the Chicago Cub's ace Ryan Dempster.
So far in 2012, Dempster is the league leader with a 1.86 earned runs average. He is 5-3 and has a 1.02 Walks/Hits per Innings Pitched (WHIP).
The downside to Dempster, however, is his fragility and vulneraibility to injury. He missed a couple of weeks earlier in the season, explaining why he has only thrown 92 innings in the season.
Dempster has done a good job keeping the ball in the park, giving up only six home runs.
Tigers should keep in mind that Comerica Park is more home run friendly than Wrigley Field. 1.60 homers are hit per game at Wrigley, while Comerica has 2.02 homers flying out per game.
The Tigers knew that, coming into 2012, their offense was going to be unstoppable.
They rank in the Top 5 in batting average, on-base percentage and hits, but they are 17th in home runs and 11th in runs batted in.
Their pitching, however, has not played up to expectiations. They have 3.93 ERA as a ball club, goof for 14th in the majors. They have allowed 89 homers, which is more than the 86 the offense has produced.
Currently, the Tigers are 3.5 games behind first place as they are chasing the Chicago White Sox. The Cubs are also nowhere in contention as they find themselves 14 games from first place.
Theo Epstein will probably not hesitate to sell a fragile commodity with hopes of getting the organization a low priced piece that could be great in the long run.
Dempster becomes a free agent in 2013.
