Phil Rogers's post on Baseball | Latest updates on Sulia

The Ryan Dempster standoff continues, with confusion in Atlanta regarding Dempster's reasoning on not approving the deal. Fox's Ken Rosenthal reports what has been known for awhile -- that Dempster prefers a trade to the Dodgers. Theo Epstein knew that was his preference but must not have known that Dempster felt so strongly about it that he would block a trade to the Braves -- although to be clear he hasn't done that, he's merely weighing his options at this point. Rosenthal points out that Dempster's wish to go to the Dodgers relates to his family situation. He prefers to be on the West Coast, Rosenthal suggests, because he has family in Vancouver and wants his three children to be close to relatives while he's away. It's unclear if Epstein can re-engage the Dodgers in trade talks. They backed away over the weekend, unwilling to meet the Cubs' demands for a player they might have only for the rest of this season, and that led to the agreement with the Braves. This could become quite a mess, especially given how happy the Cubs were to have agreed to a deal bringing right-hander Randall Delgado from the Braves.