Bleacher Bums Forum

Maybe they figure if he wanted to go there so bad, they can sign him cheap this winter as a FA.  Negative comments about his value might work against that 

And, that's probably more likely...would love to have been a fly on the wall for that phone call, and the following conversation.

Maybe because it would be a complete breach of ethics to have Dempster listening in on the call without telling the other club?

Ethics? In baseball? The game with doctored baseballs, corked bats, stolen signs, steroids, umpires who think think they're the reason people go to games and "Larry" Bud as Commisssioner?

Sun-Times:

‘‘If I was the Dodgers, I’d be upset if I thought players were listening in on our conversations, but that’s clearly not what happened,’’ Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said. ‘‘As I made clear [Tuesday] in my press conference, I kicked Ryan out of my office and put him in a separate office before we made any phone calls. Ryan was in the offices so that he could be there on a moment’s notice. He certainly wasn’t there to listen in on phone calls, and we would never let that happen.’’

Agree with Deeg.  Write down that we reached agreement about Dempster.   

Maybe because it would be a complete breach of ethics to have Dempster listening in on the call without telling the other club?

Why is allowing Dempster to listen in on the call a complete breach of ethics?  I've been trying to give this a little thought and am undecided on the matter, but leaning toward it not being because of the circumstances, myself.  I keep coming back to if the Dodgers had been negotiating in good faith, it wouldn't have come to that to begin with.  Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.  You'd choose to give Dempster away to the Dodgers for basically nothing or keep him, rather than letting him listen in and coming to the realization a Dodger trade was not a smart baseball move for the Cubs?

Either way, it sounds like the report was a misunderstanding...either that or Epstein/Hoyer are covering their backs.

I assume Hoyer is telling the truth, that Dempster was not present to hear the discussions with the Dodgers.  If not, the Cubs probably didn't break any rules, but their reputation would be damaged.  Not just with the Dodgers, but with all teams that deal with the Cubs.  The issue isn't just what the Dodgers say (or don't say) about Dempster. The Dodgers would probably not want a player (let alone one who may soon be in their clubhouse) to hear who is or is not offered; comments about their own players; comments about other players on the Cubs; etc.  This has nothing to do with whether the Dodgers are low-balling, talking down Dempster, etc. 

If the Cubs should reasonably expect the Dodgers' behavior would be affected by knowing Dempster is on the line, and they fail to tell the Dodgers, then the Cubs are open to accusations of unfair dealing.  (Leaving aside whether there is any actual misrepresentation - it's also typical for conference calls to start with the participants identifying who is on the line, and there is a general business expectation that material participants in a conference call are identified).

When you're having a business phone conference, you tell everyone who's on the line.  Pretty simple.  I'd be surprised if Hoyer isn't telling the truth.

I could understand if you called it unfair listening, but not unfair dealing.  As Jes said, the Cubs gained no competitive advantage by having Dempster listen in besides maybe having him agree to a trade with a different team more easily.  I guess you could say the Dodgers lost out on a potential boost to the team by missing out on Dempster, but I'll maintain that the Cubs wouldn't have given him away anyway.  There's always the pick in next years draft they could have chased.

I could also understand if you said it entered some gray areas ethically, but i still wouldn't say it was a complete breach of ethics or crossed any line, unless the parties were identified, and he remained silent.  Even if this were so and it was a breach of ethics, this was a very unique situation, and I think other gm's would recognize it as such, and not hold it against the Cubs front office.  They have no history of being ethically challenged or having unfair dealings with other gm's.

 In addition, every other GM wants to do whats best to improve his respective club, and if that includes dealing with Hoyer or Theo, then they will do so.  Except for maybe the Dodgers, their plan to fleece the Cubs was thwarted and I could see holding a grudge.  I will also admit my view may be somewhat biased against the Dodgers in this matter because they were trying to take advantage of my beloved Cubs, but oh well.  Here's hoping the Dodgers miss out on the playoffs because they didn't trade for Dempster.