Dempster retires to join Cubs' front office
For Ryan Dempster, it's a once a Cub, always a Cub.
The right-handed pitcher, who finished his career with the world-champion Boston Red Sox in 2013, will retire as a Cubs player and remain with the organization as a special assistant to team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.
Epstein announced the surprise move Friday before he talked with reporters about next week's winter meetings. Dempster pitched for the Cubs from 2004 until he was traded to the Texas Rangers during the 2012 season.
As a Cub, Dempster went 67-66 with a 3.74 ERA and 87 saves. He is the only pitcher in team history with more than 50 wins and 50 saves.
"I'm super excited," said Dempster, who has maintained a home in Chicago. "This is a great opportunity for me. I had the best years of my career here. When I think about playing baseball, I'm a Chicago Cub at heart. So the opportunity to come back here and sign back and retire as a Cub ... I've been kind of retired but haven't formally announced it."
The Cubs say Dempster will spend time with the club during spring training, visit minor-league affiliates, evaluate amateur players for the draft, and perform professional scouting assignments.
As a former teammate of prime free-agent target Jon Lester in Boston, Dempster also is recruiting the lefty to come to Chicago.
"Jon and I have talked about how great it is to play here," Dempster said. "He knows that. He's got an extremely tough decision ahead. But whatever the decision is going to be, hopefully it's here with the Chicago Cubs because he won't be disappointed. I know that the city of Chicago would embrace him. He's just the type of person who could pitch here and do really well here, and do well in the city."
Dempster refused a trade from the Cubs to Atlanta in 2012 before he went to Texas in a deal that brough the Cubs young starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks, among others.
"Demp has a lot to offer," Epstein said. "He has a lot of insight into the game of baseball and to people. He's a lot of fun to be around. Most importantly, he cares about the Cubs. He loves this organization. When he says he wants to make it better, it's coming from a real genuine place."
Epstein praises Dascenzo:
The Cubs finalized their coaching staff this week, hiring Dave Martinez to be manager Joe Maddon's bench coach. Martinez, who served two stints as a Cubs player, worked alongside Maddon in Tampa Bay.
Brandon Hyde moves from bench coach to first-base coach. Former Cubs outfielder Doug Dascenzo, whom the Cubs hired in October, loses his job as first-base coach, but will be the baserunning and outfield coordinator for both the major and minor leagues.
"Doug Dascenzo was just so professional in how he handled things," Theo Epstein said. "He was on the big-league staff and didn't get a chance to go out and do the job. He's committed. He's a Cub. He handled it with complete grace, and we're going to craft a really unique role for him. He's so learned with outfield defense and baserunning. He's going to coordinate it in the minor leagues and also spend a significant amount of time with our big-league team."
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