Texas starter Ryan Dempster, a free agent after the season, likely will wind up pitching for a team other than the Rangers in 2013, Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.
With the Rangers signing injured starter Colby Lewis to a one-year contract, Texas likely won't have the incentive to offer Dempster the kind of money he will demand on the free-agent market. With Lewis, the Rangers definitely will be keeping Matt Harrison, Yu Darvish and Derek Holland in their rotation. Between Scott Feldman, minor league prospects like Justin Grimm and Cody Buckel, or other lower-profile free agents, the Rangers should have little trouble finding a suitable fifth starter for 2013.
Dempster doesn't seem like he would be interested in coming back to Texas on a discount, either. His ERA has skyrocketed from 2.54 with the Cubs to 4.11 with the Rangers despite his FIP rising from just 3.44 to 3.54, and he also expressed a desire to play in Los Angeles when he rejected a trade from the Cubs to Atlanta in July.
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