Theo Epstein now claims that the reporter(s) "misinterpreted" what he said; he meant to say was that Dempster was brought into the room and told what was going on with the Dodgers.
But the initial reports made it appear that Dempster was in the Cubs business offices, listening in (speaker phone) to the trade talk. Apparently, stung from the "lack of communication" that doomed the Atlanta trade, the Cubs front office put Dempster at ground zero to show him that the Dodgers really were not that interested in him, and that he had to think about alternative destinations.
Now Dempster could have said no to any team but the Dodgers, since he has 10 & 5 trade veto rights. But giving Dempster an insider view of the situation, it may have made it easier to accept a deal to the Rangers knowing that the Dodgers were not making a real play for him.
The Dodgers are upset with the reports in that the conversations between general managers is supposed to remain confidential. You don't want outsiders in on the conversation to know that a team is willing to trade certain players, because the team probably has not told those players. You don't want to upset your current roster with trade rumors (which ironically, is what ticked Dempster off in the Atlanta deal: the media reported the trade before the Cubs told him about it.)
We will never know what exactly happened at the trade deadline. We do know that Dempster was at the Cub offices, and he was told by the Cubs of the trade talks going no where with the Dodgers. Whether Dempster was in the room listening in on the exact conversation, that will be one word against another.
But what this does reveal about the Cubs organization is that the new guys have problems communicating with their players and apparently with other general managers in the area of "professional protocol." Throughout the history of the game, there have been some general managers that other teams just refused to deal with on any level (due to personality conflicts, ethics, or being blabbermouths at the press bar). There are some teams that refuse to deal with clubs in their own division. Every general manager in the game today needs to have some working relationship with his peers, otherwise the team is at a disadvantage.
The whole two week Dempster trade saga puts the Cubs in a terrible light with other clubs and the general public.
UPDATE: ESPNChicago updates the saga with a conversation with Dempster, who says he was not in the room when the negotiations between general managers took place. He came in later to discuss things. ESPN quotes:
"I never was listening to the Dodgers and Cubs negotiate this deal,"
Dempster said. "I was in the other room, and they wanted me there to be
informed and also be able to talk about other teams that may come up.
They came to me with a couple of other teams, but there was never any
deal they had set up. When they came to me eventually with the Yankees
and Texas, and it appeared we weren't going to get anything done with
the Dodgers, I told them to go ahead.
"At about a half hour before
the deadline, they put me on the phone with Ned Colletti. We had a
conversation and it was apparent at that time that regardless of how
hard all sides worked, that they weren't going to get a deal done. I
told him I definitely wanted to come to the Dodgers, and that I'd be
interested in signing an extension, and I told him I wasn't just saying
that to try to get the deal done. At that point, we just said goodbye
and wished each other well."
