7/30 Cubs rumors

Ryan Dempster’s next scheduled start is Tuesday night, with the first pitch at Wrigley Field scheduled for four hours after the 3 p.m. CT Trade Deadline. Will he still be in a Cubs uniform by then? Yahoo’s Tim Brown tweets Monday that the Dodgers are still talking to the Cubs about Dempster, and FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal says Alfonso Soriano could be part of the trade. On Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer wrote the Cubs’ failed attempt to get pitching prospect Allen Webster from the Dodgers created a stalemate. The Dodgers have had an offer on the table for Dempster since mid July.

The Braves appeared to have completed a deal one week ago for Dempster, who said Sunday: “Who’s to say I was going to say no or yes to whatever team.  All I said was that I just, at that time, I needed to think about everything.”

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says there’s no guarantee 22-year-old Randall Delgado is still available to deal to the Cubs for Dempster.

Rosenthal points out that under the new CBA, there is no longer a required 24-hour waiting period for 10-and-5 players to approve a trade. So, any deals can go right to the deadline as long as the player gives consent. That applies to Dempster.

– Carrie Muskat