New Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell may not want to hold onto the Chicago Cubs, but for now his focus is on selling Wrigley Field (to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority) and not the team, reports the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan. There is also the issue of possibly selling naming rights to Wrigley Field. Team Chairman Crane Kenney sounds almost bitter that Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. has been getting something for free since it sold the team in 1981. Thankfully, the holdup has seemed to not have negatively affected the Cubs' ability to spend money on player acquisition and development.

"The Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Cubs, reportedly has been delaying the previously announced sale of the team, leaving bidders frustrated," reports UPI. I have a feeling we are going to see a lot of these reports over the next several months, especially as the delay relates to any restraints placed on the front office.

Here's a well written open letter to Mark Cuban proposing a partnership between him and Cubs fans to purchase the team. There's no way he would go along with it, and there's no way it would happen, but, again, it's a well written letter.

If the rumors are correct and Sam Zell buys the Tribune Company, that is reason for cautious optimism about the future of the Cubs. The good news is Zell is a long time Chicagoan. The additional good news is he is very smart. The question is whether his likely affection for the City and the team will translate to him keeping control or selling off the organization to ease the debt burden on the Tribune. If he chooses to sell off, one hopes he will favor local ownership. Maybe he will get creative and offer shares to fans. In any event, it is better that he wins the contest for the Company than a non-Chicago person.

Radar Magazine reports:

Billionaire blogger Mark Cuban is more serious about buying a major league baseball team than he's been letting on. The tech entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner is set to offer $625 million to buy the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co., according to a source familiar with the matter. "Mark is desperate to buy the Cubs," says the source. "He wants this so bad."

More potential buyers are emerging for the Cubs organization, and the results of the bidding for the Tribune Company lead some to think that the chance of a private buyout of just the team (or the team and the TV network) has increased. The bids did not contain a hoped for eye-popping offer for the stock of the Company. Thus Crain's Chicago Business and other sources report the chance of a selected asset sale are greatly increased. Local wire and cable magnate Jim Anixter is now in the mix, along with Don Levin and others, as possible Cub owners. (Hey guys, are your egos compatible?? After all the White Sox ownership is really by a small group.)

Yours truly's Tribune stock went bye-bye under a stop-loss order in effect over the holidays. The Tribune story today says the Chandler family (the insiders who started this rumble for a sale) now assert the stock is overpriced. (Could that be because they low-balled an offer themselves??)

Anyone wishing to ponder this further may check out the following link to Crains: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/n...

We are not going to know whether the Tribune Co. will sell the Cubs until at least sometime in the first quarter of 2007. "A 'strategic review' at Tribune Co. has 'generated strong interest from a number of parties,' the media company's chief executive said late Tuesday, reports MarketWatch. "William Osborn, Tribune's lead director and chairman of that special committee, added in the same release that the company is 'committed to a complete review process that will yield maximum value for all Tribune shareholders. We anticipate a final recommendation to the full board during the first quarter of 2007.'"

How about the Cubs being owned by USA Today? The Wall Street Journal gives us the latest news on the possible sale of all or parts of the Tribune Co. in Monday's paper. Here's what the article tells us:

First let me say that I am not Don Levin, I never met Don Levin, and I have no business or other connections with Don Levin.
So Who is Don Levin? Levin is a Chicago native Cub Fan with enough money to buy the Cubs himself, enough smarts to get Mike Downey to do an article about him in today's Sunday Tribune sportspage, and enough heart to take on the task of making the Cubbies into the team every true Cub fan wants to see.
Levin founded and owns the Chicago Wolves, a family oriented successful hockey team. He is going to call John McDonough to tell him that what Downey says in today's paper is true. He is not phased by a more than half-billion dollar asking price, and he wants to keep the Cubs at Wrigley and make them winners. Downey's column link.

"The first round of bids for Tribune Co. have come in low, prompting the newspaper and TV company to notify bidders that it is now prepared to consider offers for parts of the business, say people familiar with the situation," reports the Wall Street Journal. The private equity firms expressing interest in the entire business are "putting a value on Tribune in the 'low $30s.'" TRB stock closed at $32.62 today. The company certainly wants a premium on that price to sell the whole company.

"Tribune Co.'s board voted to establish a special committee of independent directors to explore alternatives for 'creating additional value for shareholders,' opening the door for a sale of the company or a management buyout," reports the Wall Street Journal (Sarah Ellison and Julia Angwin, "Tribune Opens Door to Possible Sale," 9/22/2006). There is no mention in the article of a possible separate sale of the Chicago Cubs. However, if Tribune Co. itself were sold, who knows what would happen. Ivy Chat also comments.

The AP reports on the Tribune Co.'s languishing stock. The article includes comments on the Chicago Cubs:

This would certainly change things. Reports the New York Sun's Evan Weiner:

Now that Mark Cuban's bid to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates has been officially squashed by the team's owners, will Cuban pick up the phone and call Dennis FitzSimons to ask the Chicago Tribune Company's Chief Executive Officer if he is about ready to sell the Chicago Cubs? Probably.

At this point, just speculation.