Ryan Dempster To Become A Starter

As a White Sox fan with numerous Cubs fan friends, I hear my fair share of complaining about the Cubs during the season. This year a lot of those complaints, and a couple not so nice words, were directed towards the Cubs closer Ryan Dempster.

Dempster didn't really have that bad of a season in 2007, converting 28 of his 31 save opportunities, but he still drove Cubs fans nuts. It probably had something to do with his 1.34 WHIP. With a young flamethrower like Carlos Marmol, a former closer in Bobby Howry, and a potential closer in Kerry Wood, Cubs fans had plenty of options in choosing who they thought was better suited for the job.

Well, there's good news for Cubs fans, because Dempster will not be closing games next season. He'll be starting them instead.

General manager Jim Hendry confirmed Tuesday that manager Lou Piniella gave Dempster the green light to move from the back of the bullpen to the rotation in time for spring training.

''Lou did speak to Ryan about getting himself ready to pitch in the rotation,'' Hendry said during Day 2 of the general managers meetings.

A starting role would be nothing new for Dempster, as he was a starter his entire career, and even started six games for the Cubs in 2005, before being converted to a closer with the Chicago Cubs. His best season came in 2000 as a Marlin when Dempster went 14-10 with a 3.66 ERA in 226.1 innings. He'll also add depth to a Cubs rotation that gets a little thin after Carlos Zambrano, and Ted Lilly.

As for who takes over Dempster's role, it's the same three suspects from last season. Of course, Kerry Wood is a free agent, and the Cubs aren't the only team interested in making him a closer. Still, I think the Cubs best option to replace Dempster is already on the roster, and he's named Carlos Marmol.