Earlier reports were incorrect, the Cubs traded Ryan Dempster to the Rangers for two prospects:

Per Evan Grant and Jason Cole on Twitter, the two prospects sent by the Rangers to Chicago in the Ryan Dempster trade are Christian Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks. My initial reaction is that this is a significantly weaker package than I would have expected the Rangers to have to part with for Dempster, although Villanueva and Hendricks are both nice prospects.

Villanueva is a 21-year-old in high A ball and seems to be regressing as a hitter. On the other hand, he’s a third baseman who gets played at short and second, so his defense is probably excellent. Hendricks has a very low walk rate and a very good K rate, once again fitting into the Cubs mold of pitcher. I can’t wait until he face Kyle Kendrick in a game. 🙂