Tribune selects Cubs buyer

UPDATE: Washington Post reports that Tom Ricketts has some serious ties to Wrigleyville... read on.

Tom Ricketts grew up watching the Cubs on WGN, once lived in an apartment above a bar across the street from Wrigley Field, and met his wife in the bleachers at a Cubs game.

Well-played, sir, well played. I bet he was completely sober at the time, too.


The Chicago Tribune reports that their parent company, Tribune Co., has selected Tom Ricketts as the winning bidder to buy the Chicago Cubs. The $900 million offered also includes Wrigley Field and a quarter of Comcast SportsNet.

The Ricketts family made their billion-plus fortune "building a discount brokerage brokerage in Omaha." The family's patriarch, J. Joe Ricketts, founded what later became Ameritrade Holding Corporation. The family has also independently confirmed that they have been selected to buy the team.

But the deal isn't sealed just yet.

The family will have to hammer out a final agreement with Tribune Co. and secure financing amid the worst credit markets since the Depression. Once a contract is inked, the deal must be approved by 23 of Major League Baseball's 30 owners. Cubs officials have said they hope to have the new owners in place by the start of the season in April.

Paul Sullivan talks about the future/upgrading of Wrigley Field

Rick Morrissey gives the Ricketts family some advice.

And a Tribune reporter gets the voice of the fans. Shockingly, they say don't tear down Wrigley Field and spend money getting better players.

Only at Wrigley...

NBC Chicago, via Deadspin.



This one is via NHL Online.



FAIL.

Killing the Curse with... a Comic Book? Also, Video of the Frozen Confines

[via the tribune]

Imagine Keanu Reeves battling a demon in the Billy Goat Tavern, to lift the curse of the Cubs.

That's apparently the subject of DC Comics' "Hellblazer" #250 -- or at least the part featuring John Constantine, the character played on the silver screen by Keanu in "Constantine."

Buy the comic today, or it's your fault if the Cubs don't win in 2009!

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Also, here's a link to video of the Wrigley Field ice rink going up.

Cubs Weekend Roundup

The Cubs signed Reed Johnson, Chad Gaudin and Neal Cotts to one-year deals ($3, $2, and $1.1 million, respectively), and offered contracts to Kevin Gregg, Michael Wuertz and Ronny Cedeno as well.

Tickets to the Jan. 4 Public Skate at Wrigley Field are already sold out. (Sun-Times, citing a Cubs spokesman). No surprise there.

Peavy's agent is persistent.

Peavy deal not close, Cubs free to add payroll, and the obligatory Blagojevich post

Sources say the Peavy deal is not "close" to being done. Whatever, I'll wait. Give me my Peavy and a lefthanded bat by spring training, and color me satisfied.

Hendry also is not a fan of multi-team deals.

Since he became the Cubs' general manager, Hendry has been involved in one deal involving more than one team, and that was when he acquired Nomar Garciaparra at the Trade Deadline in July 2004.

"We've only made one [multi-team deal] in my GM career, and that was a four-way, and to this day, I'm not quite sure how it happened," Hendry said. "It was a two-way all week, and all of a sudden it became a four. I'm much better served one on one. I'm not quite as efficient as Theo [Epstein] or Billy Beane in multi-tasking, so I keep it as simple as I can."

I'm no GM, but you can hire someone to help you multi-task. Now if you can't wrap your brain around the deal... can't help you with that. Just sayin'.

Team Chairman Crane Kenney says the Cubs ownership situation does not handcuff the Cubs from adding payroll (i.e. signing Peavy).

There have been reports that Cubs general manager Jim Hendry's hands are tied and he cannot add salary, such as the money owed to Jake Peavy, whom the Padres are trying to deal. Peavy will make $11 million in 2009 and is owed $63 million over the next four seasons.

But Kenney said the Cubs don't have to wait for a new owner to make a move.

"All of our efforts here are about improving the team," Kenney said. "If it means a longer-term contract that fits within the budget, then that's what it will be. If it means, as Jim has talked about, multi-team deals, we'll do that. [Hendry and staff] have a very good game plan, and they're executing it. My role here is to make sure that we get as much as we can within the parameters of our budget."

Finally, it's amazing to me that Blagojevich would have used his influence in the sale of Wrigley Field as a bargaining chip to get the Tribune Co. to fire members of the editorial board. I knew the guy was delusional with a ginormous ego, but this is ridiculous. Good riddance.