This morning the Chicago Cubs signed free agent switch hitting 2B Aaron Miles to a two year $4.9 million deal. This deal has been made because of other moves that are in the process of happening as we speak…
Rumors are swirling that a Cubs/Rockies deal that will send Jason Marquis to Denver for reliever Luis Vizcaino will be the next domino to fall in a string of deals by Cubs GM Jim Hendry which will change the look of the Chicago Cubs from the end of 2008 to 2009. That deal would free up salary so Hendry can sign free agent OF Milton Bradley.
Somewhere in all of this the Cubs will send DeRosa to Cleveland for prospects (that’s why they added Miles). The DeRosa deal will free up his payroll and give the Cubs the prospects that will be teamed with Sean Marshall and others in a trade to the Padres that brings Jake Peavy to the Northside.
Wow! Jim Hendry has alot of balls in the air right now. If this works out as reported he will have retooled the Cubs without adding significant payroll.
UPDATE: ESPN 1000’s Bruce Levine is reporting the DeRosa deal is done. DeRosa dealt to Cleveland for three pitching prospects Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer, & John Gaub.
Vehere sent me a text this morning that informed me that the Sports Corner over at the corner of Addison and Sheffield has been tore down. Maybe they are making way for another ‘Mega-bar’ in the neighborhood. (I can’t imagine that corner without some sort of tavern).
If you never had been, The Sports Corner was just a small joint compared to the mega bars that now surround Wrigley (Cubby Bear, Moran’s, Harry Caray’s). There is only one way to describe the Sports Corner, when you wanted a drink, a bartender would walk by, if you made eye contact, they would stop and take your order. That’s a rare thing these days.
I found out today that the little tavern that could was demolished on December 24th. Another piece of the neighborhood taken to make way for progress and better monetary use for the land.
As one who was kicked out of the Sports Corner at least twice (both times stone sober btw). I have to say that a part of me will miss that bar. That was the bar where the famous PITP story was first told to me just hours after Sammy Sosa had been told the tale of woe. The place also had Special Export, which always made for a fun time out. I wasn’t a regular by any stretch, but it will be missed. Long live the mega bar!
There was a little nugget buried in Buster Olney’s writing today on Manny Ramirez over on the 4-letter’s website.
The Cubs have maxed out their spending for the winter and in any event couldn’t consider an outfield of Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano.
Now I never expected the Cubs to go after Manny, so that isn’t news worthy. What surprised me was the idea that the Cubs are maxed out. Maxed out as far as what? Now there is no proof to any of this, this is just Olney’s report. So this should all be taken with a HUGE GRAIN OF SALT. If true, this would mean there are some real concerns regarding the Cubs adding any sort of payroll at this point. We can speculate on the reasons. Lord knows, I’ve done so in the recent past. Still, the Cubs being maxed out at this point is news to me. I had not heard that before today and am kind of surprised to hear it in the msm. I struggle with that being the case, but who really knows at this point what is happening behind the curtain at Clark and Addison.
I have wondered what the Cubs were planning on doing with their bullpen for sometime. The Cubs have lost veterans Kerry Wood and Bob Howry along with prospect Jose Ceda. They added Kevin Gregg, but if bullpens are a numbers game…Jim Hendry has to do some adding. Today in the Tribune, Paul Sullivan gives us a peak at what the Cubs might do. They may look to Japan for veteran help:
The pitcher they’re most interested in is Ken Kadokura, a 35-year-old right-hander, and they also had a tryout for 34-year-old left-hander Shigeki Noguchi. The Yomiuri Giants released both veterans after the 2008 season.
Kadokura, who spent most of ‘08 in the minors, has a career record of 76-82, with 10 saves and a 4.36 ERA.
He throws a fastball, a splitter and a slider and could get a look as a middle reliever, with Jeff Samardzija getting an opportunity to start in spring training games.
“He hasn’t pitched on the mound lately, but he is in great condition and has great command,” Cubs Pacific Rim scout Steve Wilson told Nikkan Sports News. “We need some experienced pitchers for the bullpen.
“I will suggest [general manager] Jim Hendry consider signing him, at least as a spring training invitee.”
The Cubs believe having another Japanese-speaking player around will help Fukudome feel more comfortable.
So, from the sounds of this, Samadzija will start in the Cactus League, and Kadokura if signed has a real chance to land a spot in the Cubs pen. I wish I could tell you more on Kadokura, but I don’t know.
Considering Kadokura is 35, was released by the Yomuri Giants and spent a lot of the season in the minor leagues, it seems odd that the Cubs would be interested in acquiring his services. Kadokura has a career record of 76-82, with 10 saves and a 4.36 ERA.
So after years of going after other big league teams released players, the latest resurrection project comes from Japan. YeeeeeeeeHaw!
Well it worked for ticket sales several years ago. Now the Cubs are tiering their fan club to different levels. Ed Sherman from his blog on Crain’s Chicago Business explains:
For a fee of $249, the Cubs Club Marquee level gives the member a chance to purchase up to 12 tickets in a special Marquee level pre-sale.
For $129, the Cubs Club Ivy Membership levels allow fans to purchase up to four seats in a special Ivy pre-sale.
Do you think there might be a few fans who will sign up for the first crack at tickets for the White Sox and St. Louis games? It sure beats freezing your tail off or paying premium prices for a ticket broker.
The Cubs easily could sell out their entire season with an unlimited Cubs Club membership, but they are going to set limits to ensure tickets still are available to the general public. Matthew Wszolek, Cubs director for sales and promotions, said the cap would be from 4,000 to 5,000 members at the Ivy and Marquee levels.
“We’re not talking about just games in April,” Mr. Wszolek said. “You can get a Cubs-Sox ticket through Cubs Club. The value on that alone is considerable.”
Yes, it is. It isn’t difficult to imagine a number of Cubs Club members will be ticket brokers and/or fans looking to sell tickets to premium games to those brokers and make a quick profit.
“We’re aware that possibility exists, but we truly feel this is something that Cubs fans desire, and it’s an opportunity we want to provide,” Mr. Wszolek said.
There is a cheaper option to join the club if buying tickets isn’t a priority. For $19.95, you could receive the standard membership that includes the e-mails and other stuff.
At $129, in addition to being able to buy tickets in advance, Ivy members will have a special gate entrance at Wrigley Field.
If you go for the whole enchilada at $249, you’ll get all the goodies plus a special non-game, on-field event for all Marquee members.
At some point this goose will stop laying golden eggs. I wonder when that will be. Cubs management continues to come up with new cash generating ideas.
Chicago and Illinois politics are never boring and always entertaining. Nearly 10 days since his arrest, Governor Blagojevich decided to tell his story…
…or not. He’ll tell it when the time is right. In the meantime this guy is going to run up legal fees that he and his foul mouthed wife will never be able to pay.
SIDENOTE: I love at the beginning how Blago throws out another Elvis with: “Thank you very much”. That’s two Elvis references from the Elvis obsessed Guv this week. LMAO. Not only is the guy a crook, but he’s strange.
Uncle Dave posted a link to this commercial in the beer o’ the week (I know I have to update it) comment section. I have no idea why this strange commercial warms my heart on this day. Note the pull tabs on the beer cans. Ahh the good ole days…
Since the sale of the Cubs was announced, I have to tell you I have been more confused by the way Sam Zell and Tribsters have went about selling this coveted asset. From the delay in getting books out -to- selling Wrigley Field seperately from the Cubs -to- not running away with Mark Cubans offer of $1.2-$1.3 billion this summer -to- most recently telling all of us that the Tribunes bankruptcy won’t hurt the sale…not alot has made sense to me. Well I stumbled onto this CNBC SportsBiz recap of a Sam Zell interview by Darren Rovell. At the end Rovell in two paragraphs echoes my confusion with this whole process:
Now here’s my take on all of this. The idea of separating Wrigley Field from the Cubs sale is one of the worst business strategies I’ve ever heard in my life. I strongly doubt that any one of the three bidders would buy the team without having Wrigley Field.
Any one in sports business knows that the ultimate nightmare is when a team’s stadium is owned by someone else because you ideally want to control the whole experience at the park. Now let’s talk about the bankruptcy. Money from the Cubs are going to the Tribune’s creditors. That is indisputable. So how it won’t impede the Cubs sale in any way is beyond me.
…and way beyond me. I have tried to understand what Zell and the Tribsters are doing. What the hell they were waiting for to pull the trigger on this deal. I can’t figure it out.
If you want to attend the Winter Classic on New Years Day at Wrigley Field, but didn’t win the Blackhawks lottery, you still have a chance to attend this game. The Cubs rooftop partners have been selling spots for months and spots are still available. According to the Bright One the City Council made it official that the owners can sell these spots:
Rooftop clubs with a bird’s-eye view of Wrigley Field got the go-ahead Wednesday to cash in on the NHL’s New Year’s Day Winter Classic.
At the request of local Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the City Council agreed to let rooftop owners, whose operations are normally confined to baseball season, sell tickets to the outdoor game between the Black Hawks and the Detroit Red Wings.
The rooftop owners originally overestimated the value of these tickets. You can now get on a rooftop, with food and drink, for about $200.
Last month, rooftop owner Tom Gramatis told the Chicago Sun-Times that demand for rooftop tickets to the Winter Classic was “the biggest thing ever — bigger than any Cubs game” when the event was announced last summer.
But Gramatis said “the buzz” died down when the economy went south and the stock market tanked. That forced him to cut his price in half— from $400 a head to $200, including food and drink.
“There were rooftops asking $750 a head [at one time]. Some are still at $500. They’re smoking a crack pipe. They’re not gonna get it. The economy sucks. It’s also Jan. 1 at noon — not an ideal time for somebody to wake up and go to a hockey game after New Year’s Eve,” Gramatis said.
Both the Score and ESPN Radio 1000 are reporting the Cubs have signed Joey Gathright. Gathright brings speed to this club in his reserve OF role. He also makes Felix Pie expendable. IMHO This solidifies that Pie will be moved sometime this offseason.
Despite all of the assurances from Crane Kenney that the offseason would not be impacted by the change in ownership or Tribune filing for chapter 11, the results from last weeks winter meetings appear to be different. I know there is a lot of time to go this offseason and things can change. But one really has to wonder how big an impact the uncertainties surrounding ownership have had thus far on the Cubs offseason. Maury Brown from bizofbaseball.com speculates the Jake Peavy deal would have went down if this were a normal offseason:
For the Cubs, the best example may be the Jake Peavy deal. In any other free agency cycle, we may have seen the Padres and Cubs consummate a deal. But, with the sale of the Cubs in the balance, the deal was quashed based on concerns surrounding Peavy’s contract which will see him $11 million in 2009 and has $63 million remaining over of his contract. While it was not the only reason the deal has yet to happen (it could occur later toward the trade deadline), there were concerns by those bidding to purchase the Cubs that the added salary, coupled with the backloaded contracts of key players on the Cubs roster, would add more debt for an already tenuous sale process.
So, there were concerns from prospective buyers on adding Peavy’s payroll. Hmmm. This seems to contradict statements from Crane Kenney last week:
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.”
There are at least three bidders for the Cubs, and all three groups have been updated on the team’s proposed budget for ‘09 and beyond. Kenney also can contact them if needed.
Well Crane, it appears the transition of ownership may not be as rosey as you paint it. I’d like to say I was surprised. At some point this sale was going to rear it’s ugly head, I’m surprised it wasn’t earlier.
In a developing story, it is important to get all of the facts for your readers. There is no exception in BlagoGate. Fran Spielman of the Sun-Times never backs away from the hard questions. She doesn’t here either as she wonders what happened to the rat sign in Blago’s alley?
Earlier this week, Chicago Sun-Times photographer John White shot a picture of the governor ducking out of his Ravenswood Manor home to avoid passing through a news media gauntlet.
The photo showed Blagojevich next to a city sign that said, “Warning” and “Target Rats” with a picture of a rat inside a bull’s-eye.
Friday morning, Blagojevich left his house by the same back door, but there was something missing. The rat sign had been taken down, even though it was posted in a city-owned alley.
The Daley administration suspects the obvious: that the governor or somebody close to him saw White’s unflattering picture and yanked down the sign
As a taxpayer that lives in lllinois and the city of Chicago I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened to the rat sign. Maybe a special investigation into this is necessary.
The Chicago Blackhawks released an artists rendering of what the historic ballpark will look like in a few weeks on January 1, 2009 when the Chicago Blackhawks face the Detroit Red Wings.
UPDATE 8:43 PM: On January 4th the Cubs will host an ‘Open Skate’ for the neighborhood. Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased on Monday at Tickets.com. Here is the press release from the Cubs.
According to mlb.com, the following players have been non-tendered by their respective teams making them free agents. The biggest name on the list is probably Dodgers closer Takashi Saito and there are some guys who were once big time prospects like Baltimore’s Daniel Cabrera.
Astros
Ty Wigginton, 3B; Reggie Abercrombie OF.
Braves
Chuck James, LHP.
Brewers
Chris Capuano, LHP.
Cardinals
Randy Flores, LHP; Tyler Johnson, LHP; Aaron Miles, 2B.
Diamondbacks
Chris Burke, INF; Robby Hammock, C; Wil Ledezma, LHP; Jeff Salazar, OF.
Dodgers
Mario Alvarez, RHP; Angel Berroa, SS; Yhency Brazoban, RHP; Scott Proctor, RHP; Takashi Saito, RHP.
Mariners
Jamie Burke, C.
Marlins
Joe Nelson, RHP.
Nationals
Tim Redding, RHP.
Orioles
Daniel Cabrera, RHP; Lance Cormier RHP.
Padres
Clay Hensley, RHP; Charlie Haeger, RHP.
Phillies
Scott Mathieson, RHP.
Pirates
Denny Bautista, RHP.
Rangers
Doug Mathis, RHP.
Rays
Jonny Gomes, OF.
Red Sox
Kevin Cash, C.
Rockies
Jonathan Herrera, IF; Willy Taveras, OF.
Royals
John Bale, LHP; Jairo Cuevas, RHP; Joey Gathright, OF; Jason Smith, IF.
Yankees
Chris Britton, RHP; Justin Christian, OF.
At age 39 and a very small salary, Saito might be an interesting look for a team like the Cubs that has to solidify their bullpen (of course all of this depends on the medical reports). Anybody else on the list that you might like to see Jim Hendry take a run at?
Buried today in Chris DeLuca’s column, in the Bright One, was something that has been a hot button issue with Cub fans for two years. Alfonso Soriano will be the Cubs leadoff man in 2009.
And it seems the Cubs have all but given up on their pursuit of a new leadoff hitter. During organizational meetings in October, several in the room suggested it was time to drop Alfonso Soriano out of the leadoff spot. But the way things look, Soriano will be the leadoff hitter on Opening Day.
”We won 70 percent of the games with him leading off,” Piniella said. ”That’s a pretty good number. He’s a good player. He gets a little hot, he gets a little cold. And unfortunately in the postseason, he has been a little cold.
”But I have all the confidence in the world in him. The way we are right now, he is our best choice.”
Had they landed a legit leadoff hitter, the Cubs would be able to drop Soriano to a better run-producing spot in the lineup.
But so far, no leadoff hitter and no left-handed bat. Just a whole lot of Peavy talk.
Amidst all of the Jake Peavy talk this will probably be glanced over. But I suspect come Spring Training this will once again be a topic of conversation amongst the media and fanbase (probably not Lou though).
Thanks to Blago-gate, we have learned that the Tribune was once again trying to work out a deal with the State of Illinois for Wrigley Field. This was a deal that we were told was dead last summer. Well not so fast:
Tribune Co. was negotiating a new deal to sell Wrigley Field to the state as late as the end of November, a shock to Cubs bidders who believed a state purchase of the stadium had long been dead. The revelation is contained in corruption charges brought Tuesday against Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff.
The head of the Illinois Finance Authority confirmed Tuesday that Tribune Co. approached the agency in September about assistance with financing for the stadium. Tribune and state officials first talked earlier this year about Wrigley Field but could not reach an agreement.
IFA Chairman William Brandt added that the latest talks were “preliminary,” saying that the form and amount of financing provided by the state couldn’t be determined until the Chicago-based media conglomerate had settled on a team buyer.
One begins to wonder why any prospective buyer would bother with this circus. I know it’s the Cubs and all. But come on. What makes this whole thing even stranger, is apparently the Tribsters never told the prospective bidders, Wrigley Field might not be part of the transaction:
The latest disclosures add a new wrinkle to the sales process, which has already been set back by instability in the credit markets and Tribune’s filing for bankruptcy protection on Monday.
A financial adviser for one of the Cubs bidders said he was stunned to learn that Tribune Co. was negotiating a separate deal with the state even as it asked for new bids for the package of sports assets which included Wrigley Field.
“I thought things had hit rock bottom yesterday,” the adviser said. “Now they [Tribune Co.] are part of a criminal investigation. What else is going to happen?”
That’s a good question. Maybe tomorrow the meteor will hit the ballpark and all of this shit won’t matter.
The reason for Zell wanting to do this is simple and predictable a tax break:
In the meantime, Tribune Co. reopened discussions with the state. The potential deal, the complaint said, would turn the stadium’s title over to the IFA. Tribune Co. would not have to pay capital gains tax on the sale, potentially saving the company about $100 million, the complaint said.
You cannot believe a word that comes out of the mouth of anybody involved in trying to sell this team. What may be true at one moment might not be the next or they are just plain posturing or even lying. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter, nobody can be believed in this thing.
Looks like the Cubs sale and the Tribune bankruptcy have stalled the Cubs efforts to get Jake Peavy. The deal is not off the table, but according to the 4-letter’s Jayson Stark the deal won’t happen in Vegas:
LAS VEGAS — Jake Peavy may still wind up as a Chicago Cub. But if that trade goes down, it won’t happen during the winter meetings, according to a baseball source with knowledge of those discussions.
The Cubs and Padres “still have a lot of work to do” before a deal as big, and potentially complicated, as this one could be completed, the source said. And it’s impossible for them to complete all that work before the meetings end Thursday.
In fact, the source said, the only thing the two teams have completely agreed upon is that they will “definitely have a feel for [whether this trade is doable] by Thursday.”
the hang-ups:
The hang-ups before this trade could be completed are numerous. Most significantly, the Cubs would need ownership approval before adding a player who is guaranteed $63 million over the next four years, with a 2013 option that could bring the total value to $81 million over five years. And that approval would take time, given the team’s uncertain ownership issues.
“”Monday, two of the bidding groups expressed deep frustration at the process they now expect will be substantially delayed because of the role the banckrupcy court will play in any transaction. “This is an abolsute mess” said the financial advisor for one bidder. “God know(s) what happens now””
This is from gm’s comment below:
first thing i’d do would be to take my offer off the table, ccd. “unchanged” my ass.
… [T]he bidders are unsure of how to proceed. “I really don’t know enough to comment,” said one bidder. “Some very complex issues have arisen.” …
Bidders on Monday began scrambling to find bankruptcy advisers of their own. Among questions they want answers to is how the bankruptcy affects the highly leveraged partnership Tribune Co. sought from a Cubs buyer to avoid a huge capital-gains tax expected from the sale of the franchise.
According to a person close to a second bidder, the partnership works only if Tribune Co. guarantees the debt. He said he is not sure the Internal Revenue Service would allow a firm in bankruptcy to guarantee the debt.
The bidders also have lost some negotiating power as a result of Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy, said Mike Simonton, an analyst at Fitch Ratings. Prior to the bankruptcy, Tribune Co. faced pressure to reach a deal to sell the Cubs before the end of year or risk being in default of its loan terms.
“Now, there’s less urgency to get a sale done at a fire-sale price,” Simonton said. “There’s more time to reach the best deal.”</blockquote>
No deal for Peavy can be completed until the Cubs’ new owner is identified; the new owner would need to approve the addition of the four years and $63 million remaining on the pitcher’s contract.
What a morning here in Chicago (and this post has nothing to do with Jake Peavy). According to reports Rod Blagojevich is about to be the seventh Illinois Governor indicted. He was not indicted. Early this morning Blago was taken into custody by the Feds at his northside home. This statement from US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald summarizes what this bum has done:
“The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering. They allege that Blagojevich put a ‘for sale’ sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism.”
The Cubs sale is involved in this whole mess.
Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.
Below is snippet from the formal complaint against Blago. This features the Guv’s wife Patti using some colorful language regarding the Cubs and the Tribune:
73. In another call between ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Deputy Governor A that occurred a short time later on November 3, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Deputy Governor A discussed an editorial from the Chicago Tribune regarding the endorsement of Michael Madigan and calling for a committee to consider impeaching ROD BLAGOJEVICH. During the call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife can be heard in the background telling ROD BLAGOJEVICH to tell Deputy Governor A “to hold up that fucking Cubs shit. . . fuck them.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH asked Deputy Governor A what he thinks of his wife’s idea. Deputy Governor A stated that there is a part of what RODBLAGOJEVICH’s wife said that he “agree[s] with.” Deputy Governor A told ROD BLAGOJEVICH that Tribune Owner will say that he does not have anything to do with the editorials, “but I would tell him, look, if you want to get your Cubs thing done get rid of this Tribune.” Later, ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife got on the phone and, during the continuing discussion of the critical Tribune editorials, stated that Tribune Owner can “just fire” the writers because Tribune Owner owns the Tribune. ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife stated that if Tribune Owner’s papers were hurting his business, Tribune Owner would do something about the editorial board. ROD BLAGOJEVICH then got back on the phone. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Deputy Governor A to put together the articles in the Tribune that are on the topic of removing ROD BLAGOJEVICH from office and they will then have someone, like JOHN HARRIS, go to Tribune Owner and say, “We’ve got some decisions to make now.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that “someone should say, ‘get rid of those people.’” ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that he thinks that they should put this all together and then have HARRIS or somebody go talk to the Tribune owners and say, “Look, we’ve got decisions to make now. . . moving this stuff forward (believed to be a reference to the IFA helping with the Cubs sale) . . . someone’s gotta go to [Tribune Owner], we want to see him. . it’s a political fuckin’ operation in there.” Deputy Governor A agreed and said that HARRIS needs to be “sensitive” about how he does it. ROD BLAGOJEVICH said there is nothing sensitive about how you do it and that it’s “straight forward” and you say “we’re doing this stuff for you, we believe this is right for Illinois [and] this is a big deal to [Tribune Owner] financially” but what ROD BLAGOJEVICH is doing to help Tribune Owner is the same type of action that the Tribune is saying should be the basis for ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s impeachment. ROD BLAGOJEVICH said Tribune Owner should be told “maybe we can’t do this now. Fire those fuckers.” Deputy Governor A suggested that ROD BLAGOJEVICH say, “I’m not sure that we can do this anymore because we’ve been getting a ton of these editorials that say, look, we’re going around the legislature, we gotta stop and this is something the legislature hasn’t approved. We don’t want to go around the legislature anymore.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH agreed and said that he wants HARRIS to go in and make that case, “not me.” Deputy Governor A agreed and said that he likes it. ROD BLAGOJEVICH asked Deputy Governor A to put the list of Tribune articles together.
74. During another intercepted call still later on the evening of November 3, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Advisor A, a former Deputy Governor under ROD BLAGOJEVICH who is currently a lobbyist. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he is going to go to Tribune Owner and tell Tribune Owner that ROD BLAGOJEVICH will not help Tribune Owner because Tribune Owner’s own paper will argue to impeach ROD BLAGOJEVICH for his actions in helping Tribune Owner. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated they are going to go to Tribune Owner “before we pull the trigger on this deal” (believed to be a reference to helping Tribune Owner at the IFA).
75. During an intercepted call on November 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Deputy Governor A. ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Deputy Governor A to think about the “Tribune stuff” and that he is going to talk to HARRIS as well. Deputy Governor A confirmed that he has people doing the “research right now.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH, in discussing taking the issue to Tribune Owner, stated, “then we’ll say, look, we got a problem at IFA. Here it is.”
76. During a subsequent intercepted call on November 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with JOHN HARRIS. ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed the Tribune editorials suggesting that ROD BLAGOJEVICH be impeached, and told HARRIS that they need to have a conversation with “[Tribune Financial Advisor]”
According to several sources (including MLBTR, ACB, and Wrigleyville23) Padres GM Kevin Towers has completed all of the legwork for a 3 or 4 team deal that will send Jake Peavy to the Cubs. All Towers needs at this point is for Jim Hendry to sign off on the deal.
WOW. I guess I couldn’t pick a better day to be away from the computer. The news coming out of Tribune Tower today was not shocking, to anyone who has followed the breakdown of that company over the past few years, but the action was fast and furious. The rumors of the Tribune Company filing for bankruptcy were true before the rumor even had chance to circulate.
Back at the old site, gm and I spent post after post talking about the mismanagement of Tribune Corporation. Remember when the Chandlers were challenging Denis FitzSimmons running of the company? Well the death spiral had begun for this company. By Opening Day 2007, Sam Zell was taking the company private and the Cubs were on sale. By December 2007, one of the chief gravediggers for Tribune Denis FitzSimmons took his money and ran as fast as he could. Sam Zell leveraged the buyout of Tribune, despite skepticism from gm. Finally, today the company Colonel McCormick founded Mother Tribune, now debt-ridden and toward the end of it’s existence, filed for bankruptcy.
One wonders what that maverick Zell thinks now. The guy supposedly had an offer from the blog maverick Mark Cuban last summer for somewhere around $1.3 billion. Following the economic slide, Cuban ain’t even in the running and the bids are all below $1 billion (probably more in line with the franchises real value):
The bids Tribune Co. received for the Chicago Cubs baseball team ranged from $850 million to $950 million and should decline now that the parent company is in bankruptcy, a person with knowledge of the process said.
Good heavens did they mismanage that sale while they dicked around with Governor Balgo for a few state funds for a ballpark. Anyways. There have been alot of good comments on this already here and here. Maddog was kind enough to send this CNBC link that explains why the Cubs are not part of the proceedings:
Rubin told me that a parent corporation can file for bankruptcy without the subsidiary filing. The point of doing this is to make it easier to sell the Cubs without all the rules associated with the bankruptcy court, including timely filings of financial information. Another bankruptcy lawyer friend of mine told me that it would also allow the Cubs employees, and anyone associated with dealing with the Cubs, to better operate on a “business as usual” basis.
This all does not mean, however, that the Cubs sale will be free from everything that goes on with the bankruptcy because the creditors will still get the proceeds from the sale of the team. And who knows what’s going to happen with free agents? You think the court isn’t going to get involved if the Cubs sign a big free agent like Jake Peavy or Bobby Abreu in the offseason?
Sounds like some courtroom adventures are coming for Tribco and the Chicago National League Ballclub.
With the retirement of the best pitcher of my lifetime Greg Maddux, one cannot help but look back at the scenario that led to Maddux leaving the Cubs to sign with the Atlanta Braves. Believe it or not, one of the best accounts of what happened according to both Maddux and Himes is in Carrie Muscat’s 2001 book Banks to Sandberg to Grace.
Just to relive what had happened after the 1991 season. That offseason the Cubs signed Maddux’ good friend Mike Morgan to a three year deal. At the same time the Cubs made a 5 year/$25 million offer to Maddux. Maddux and Boras did not accept the offer on the spot. The Cubs left the offer out there. Three days later Maddux and Boras accepted, only to be informed by the Cubs that the offer was no longer on the table. At the All Star Game, the Cubs made the same offer to Maddux and Boras, by this time Boras said Maddux intended to test the free agent market. Himes upped the offer by $500,000 a year but Boras and Maddux were still intent on testing the free agent market. Well, Maddux went on to win the 1991 Cy Young Award. After the season, Himes, Ned Colletti, Dennis Homerin and Tribune big wig Stanton Cook flew to Orange County to meet with Boras. They offered Maddux 5 years/$27.5 million (the same offer Himes had made). Himes was pissed that Boras had him bidding against himself. Boras’ answer was to have Maddux test the free agent market to find out what the market was. We pickup at the end of that meeting with Himes’ account from Muscat’s book:
They said, “We’re going to test the market and take the tour.”
I said, OK, but from this point on, when I leave here, my objective is to find pitchers. I’ve got to go out and find pitchers. I can’t wait, and all of a sudden you go out and sign with somebody else. Where does that leave me?”
It got down to where, at the winter meetings at Louisville, Boras was still out there hustling and shopping Greg and he found out there weren’t any teams. There were only a couple teams who could afford him, and they did not want to match our offer.
I had just signed Randy Myers, Dan Plesac, Jose Guzman. That money was for him. That was his money. I had to spend it somewhere else to make sure we had some pitching. All Greg had to do was say yes. I wish that had happened.
I get off the plane in Chicago after returning from the winter meetings. I get an emergency telephone message from Scott Boras. He told me Greg really wanted to sign with the Cubs. I said, “I don’t have any money.” Looking back, maybe I should’ve gotten on the phone and asked the Tribune Company for more money. Maybe they would’ve said yes. I didn’t think that was my position to go begging for money once I’d agreed on a budget. I just didn’t do things that way.
Two hours before they announced him signing with Atlanta, Greg wanted to know if we could sign him. Greg had Stan Cook earlier. I don’t know what Stan said to Greg. I told Boras, “We don’t have any money.”
Here’s how Maddux recalled the situation in the same book:
…The only way to find out what my market value was was to go through free agency. And once I talked to the Yankees and Braves, then they no longer had interest in signing me.
As soon as they signed Guzman, they said, “The offer we made you was yours until we signed another pitcher.” I think they signed another pitcher the next morning like at 9:00.
I really think it was all a bunch of hogwash. I think what they wanted to do was they wanted to get three pitchers instead of one and they didn’t say it. That’s why it got ugley. That’s where all the accusations came from on both sides, on my side and their side. Looking back on it, as much as I enjoyed playing in Chicago and as much as I enjoyed living there and being a Cub, the grass was greener on the other side. I never thought playing for another organization would be better than it was playing for Chicago. It was a blessing in disguise.
I’m glad I had an opportunity to come over here and not only play for the braves, but play for Bobby Cox, and play for an organization that is run the way the players would run it if they were running it. I think we do everything we need to do to be the best players we can be on the field and no more. And I think the work habits are better on the important things. Looking back, I’m glad it happened. At the time I was crushed. I’m glad it happened
Well that’s it. Just reading through most of this pisses me off.
Crane Kenney spoke about the Cubs future in Paul Sullivan’s article on chicagotribune.com. According to Kenney the team will be sold by Spring Training. Sam Zell must have found a bid earlier this week that he can work with. Contrary to earlier reports, Zell will not maintain a large stake in the ballclub:
“The bids that came in were for control of the team where for Sam, any interest would be a small interest,” Kenney said. “I think at some point people were talking about Sam holding almost half of it. That’s not the way they [bid].
“People are ready to come in, and while the economy is as challenging as it is, I think the value of the franchise really hasn’t changed long-term. I think the bidders are all well financed and understand that. They didn’t deviate much from where the value should be.”
It sounds like Kenney is ready for this to be over, but Zell has no timetable (maybe he should have).
“Sam doesn’t operate under any deadline for this,” Kenney said. “It could take as long as he wants it to, but for all of our benefit, we hope by spring training we’re finished. And that will be good because there’s a lot of planning we want to do that has some long-term implications. Not just the player contract stuff. Having an owner at the seat at the table would help.”
This is pure speculation on my part, but long-term implications may include the needed reconstruction of the grandstand at the corner of Clark and Addison. Good luck funding that!
Finally, the payroll for 2009 and it looks like Jim Hendry will have the green light to make a couple of moves at the winter meetings in Las Vegas:
Kenney said all the bidders are aware of what the Cubs payroll is projected to be in 2009. Kenney wouldn’t say, but sources indicated it will probably be between $140-$145 million.
“It leaves us enough room to address the issues we have to address and actually improve a 97-win club,” he said. “If we wanted to deviate from the plan and take a shot at something completely different, I don’t know if that happens in time [for the sale]. We won’t have a transaction closed in time to do that.”
The four-time Cy Young winner will announce his retirement Monday at the baseball winter meetings in Las Vegas.
Maddux turns 43 in April. He is eighth on the career wins list with 355, and went 8-13 last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The announcement about his retirement came Friday from the office of his agent, Scott Boras.
This comes as little surprise to any. Maddux talked about hanging it up earlier this season.
I consider Maddux to be the best RHP of this era. One of the biggest mistakes ever made by the Cubs franchise was when Larry Himes allowed the defending Cy Young Award winner to walk following the 1992 season. I still remember my jaw dropping when SportsCenter reported he signed with the Atlanta Braves. It was a kick to the groin of all Cub fans, and it only got worse as Maddux became the best pitcher in the game for the Braves. Along with John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, Maddux made one of the best starting threesomes in the history of the game. The Braves would dominate the NL in the 90’s behind that rotation.
It took awhile, but eventually I got over Himes and the Cubs bumbling the Maddux deal (well sort of). I came to be a fan of Greg Maddux as the artist he was on the mound. Thanks to the fact that the Braves played on TBS in those days I was able to watch several of his starts per season. It was always a thrill to watch him pitch.
Greg Maddux is one of those players I will one day tell my kids and hopefully my grandkids that I had the pleasure of watching pitch. There is no doubt that he will go down as one of the all time greats.
When I scroll through the comments on Cubs blogs and message boards each morning, it seems more times than not somewhere there is a comment about the Chicago Cubs need to trade Alfonso Soriano. This afternoon at ACB, dj and jman discussed the fact that esteemed journalists Carrie Muskat and Phil Rogers have joined the chorus. Soriano has been a lightning rod for fans and msm criticism since Jim Hendry inked himto a massive contract back in the 2006-7 offseason. Yours truly even got into the act last spring when Soriano was playing LF like Mr. Magoo.
Maybe it’s the contract, maybe it’s the hop, maybe it’s his nationality, maybe it’s the strikeouts, maybe it’s the incredible amount of talent this guys has; I don’t know what it is, but there is something that really irks a large percentage of Cubs fans about Alfonso Soriano. This is just my opinion, but at the end of the day I think it is the massive contract that bothers people. Soriano has an 8 year, $136 million deal with the Cubs. At the time the Cubs signed Soriano they were coming off a 66 win season, Jim Hendry said this:
“We won 66 ballgames. We darn sure better be aggressive,” Hendry said.
Did the Cubs overpay for Soriano? Most will say yes. But as Hendry said the team had to be aggressive. A valid case can be made that the Cubs gave Soriano too many years. Think about it, he has six years remaining on this deal. Even if the Cubs had to trade Soriano, the only way they could would be in a ‘Mike Hampton/Colorado Rockies style salary gulp-deal’. This situation is nothing like that situation anyways. Hampton had been awful for the Rockies. Soriano has been the Cubs second best offensive player the last two years. And one more thing: the Cubs win when Soriano plays (shhhhhh don’t tell anyone).
In the two seasons the Cubs have had Soriano the Cubs have won the NL Central twice. That team that won 66 games in 2006, won 85 in 2007 and 97 in 2008. They did this with Alfonso Soriano leading off (a soar spot for many) and playing LF the majority of the time. Still when you listen to the critics they have done this despite Soriano. Well that is wrong.
Over his two years with the Cubs one of the frustrating elements of Fonzie’s Cubs career has been injuries. He played 135 games in 2007 and only 109 in 2008. One of the things this frustration allows us to do is look at the team when Soriano plays and when he doesn’t. In 2007 the Cubs were 73-61 when Soriano started, in 2008 they were 69-38 when he started. So that means that over two season with the Cubs the club has a .589 winning percentage when he is in the starting lineup. .589 people. The team has played .475 (38-42) ball when he is not in the lineup. Now I’m not much of a stats guy, but something there tells me he helped this club win ballgames the last two years.
Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella made Soriano the centerpiece of their resurrection project a couple of years back. Yeah the team has not taken home the biggest prize, but two division titles in two years is better than most of us would have expected at that time. Soriano has helped this team win for two seasons, at the end of the day isn’t that what really counts?
Yesterday, Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams made another shrewd move dumping pitcher Javy Vazquez and Boone Logan to the Atlanta Braves for four prospects. So far this offseason the Sox have cut almost $30 million off of their payroll from 2008, and Jermaine Dye looks to be next in line to leave. The Sox will replace some of these dollars coming up next week at the winter meetings, but I’d bet they won’t replace all of it. With the state of the economy, this might not be a bad time for a youth movement and that looks like the way the Sox are going.
Yesterday at Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan took a look at the impact the economy is having on arbitration offers:
And as pangs of indignation resonated among the fan bases of the players’ former teams – but, but, but, we could have had two draft picks! – general managers around baseball nodded solemnly at their new reality.
“It’s very simple,” said one American League front-office man. “What we’ve grown accustomed to the last few years is not realistic anymore.”
The economy is finally thwacking baseball, the $6.5 billion forever free-spending industry, to the point that teams can no longer risk offering their free agents arbitration for fear they might actually accept it.
Part of that quote is in need of being written again and in bold type: “What we’ve grown accustomed to the last few years is not realistic anymore.” Welcome to the new economic reality that is MLB. The free spending/increase every year era that we have witnessed over the past several years might be in it’s final days. What happens next year when attendence takes a major hit and advertising spending on tv, internet and radio is down? Well…
…the numbers show that the they are comparable to previous years.
According to the MLB Players Association, 17 players were offered salary arbitration last year at the deadline, while 25 were offered SA in 2006.
So while it is certainly interesting that baseball’s biggest cash cow in the Yankees did not offer salary arbitration to players this year, compared to years past, it may be simply a matter of how clubs landed in the FA cycle and their plans for possible rebuilding.
‘Plans for rebuilding’??? With the economy in the shitter, there might not be a more convenient time to rebuild. Williams and the White Sox might just be ahead of the curve.
A couple weeks ago I stopped short of writing the eulogy for Kerry Wood’s career with the Cubs. With yesterday’s news that the Cubs didn’t offer Kerry Wood arbitration it looks like the end of the road for Kerry Wood pitching for the Cubs. This post is not written to take a stance one way or the other on what the Cubs did. Baseball is a business and sometimes the unpopular decisions are the right one to make. Enough of that now onto Kerry Wood the Chicago Cub:
This cynical old Cub fan has to come clean, as ballplayers come and go as often as they do these days, rarely do I look back fondly on the player exiting the Cubs. It really is a different era in sports fandom. Players never play for just one team and that’s the way it is. We root for laundry and not individual players. Hell, I grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s when free agency torched the whole idea of watching a team grow up together and play most of their career as a group for one team. That stuff doesn’t happen anymore, and frankly never did in my lifetime. So as a jaded fan who knows all of this, I have to confess that I will miss Kerry Wood.
Kerry Wood came to the Cubs as a phenom, the heir apparent to Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens as a Texas fireballer. At the end of a very bleak decade for the Cubs, the 1990’s, Wood symbolized the hope that brighter days would come thanks to his magical right arm. In a fairy tale Kerry Wood would have led the Cubs to the World Series. Of course life is not a fairy tale and Kerry Wood’s baseball career has been filled with more injuries than any players deserves. Still Wood has persavered like nobodies business. Below are just a few of my memories from watching Kerry Wood in the blue pinstripes:
Easter Sunday 1998 when Wood made his major league debut on WGN at old Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Wood would lose that game and throw over 100 pitches in under 5 innings of work.
The following Saturday, gaius marius would score four tickets for me and a few friends behind home plate and we got to watch the phenom up close and personal in his first start at Wrigley Field and his first major league win over the Dodgers. On that afternoon, therer was no questioning the dynamite stuff of Kerry Wood the question was would he ever find control.
Only a few weeks later Kerry Wood would pitch a ballgame for the ages. In just his fifth big league start Kid K struck out twenty Houston Astros and became an instant star in Cubdom. If Kerry Wood had never pitched another game at this point in his career this legendary game would have cemented him in Cubs lore.
As the 1998 Rookie of the Year, Wood of course battled on and helped lead the Cubs to the 1998 Wild Card. He struck out 233 in only 166-2/3rd IP.
On May 25, 2001, Wood one hit the Brewers what was significant about this one hitter is the day before Jon Lieber had one hit the Reds. This marked the first time in MLB history teammates had pitched back-to-back complete game one hitters.
After Sitting out all of 1999 and having injury plagued seasons in 2000 and 2001 Wood went 12-6 and in 2002 he went 12-11 but more importnatly pitched 200 innings for the first time.
By 2003 Wood was the leader of the staff that now included Mark Prior, Matt Clement and Carlos Zambrano. Wood went 14-11 that season for the Cubs.
In the first round of the 2003 playoffs Kerry Wood pitched the two most clutch games against a 100+ win Atlanta Braves team in his career. Wood won two (including the clincher) of the Cubs three wins in their only playoff series win since the 1908 World Series. This series was Kerry Wood at his best as a starting pitcher for the Cubs.
Wood’s career has always been a roller coaster. After winning the deciding game 5 against the Braves later that month Kerry Wood lost the deciding Game 7 NLCS game to the Marlins. After the game Wood told the media “I choked”. Kerry Wood never was one for excuses. That’s probably why he was so likeable.
2004 was supposed to be the year that the Cubs pitching rotation of Wood, Prior, Clement, Zambrano and newly reaquired future HOFer Greg Maddux was going to lead the Cubs to the pennant. Well injuries to Wood and Prior sidelined those plans.
More injury frustrations in 2005 and again in 2006.
By 2007 the Cubs were under new manager Lou Piniella and Wood along with Prior looked to be out of the plans. But Kerry Wood somehow worked his way back and found a spot in the Cubs bullpen.
In Spring Training 2008 Kerry Wood competed with Bob Howry and young Carlos Marmol for the closers role. Wood was such a fan favorite that he would get ovations when he warmed up in the Cubs bullpen during spring. Lou Piniella would make Kerry Wood the Cubs closer.
That move worked out pretty good for Wood and the Cubs. Wood was named to the NL All Star team, saved 34 games and was on the mound when the Cubs clinched the NL Central vs. the St. Louis Cardinals.
Off the field Kerry Wood and his wife were first class. Wood’s annual bowling event has raised good money for worthy charities. In a day and age where we expect the worst from athletes in the behavior department, Wood has represented the Cubs professionally throughout his career.
The real interesting part about Kerry Wood is he represents a changing in the mindset of the Chicago Cubs and their fanbase. When Kerry Wood came to the Cubs in the late 90’s the team was still the ‘lovable losers’. During the 10 seasons that Wood was active the Cubs made the playoffs 4 times. He is the only Cub post-1945 to be on Cub postseason teams that many times. As Wood leaves the Cubs the organization now has expectations that are through the roof. I think Kerry Wood played a part in this change of mindset.
I wish Kerry Wood all the best and would just like to thank him for the years he played for the Cubs. It was alot of fun watching him pitch.
Well today is the day that Sam Zell and the Tribsters will receive their final bids for the Chicago National League Ballclub. Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball has the details:
Today marks the deadline for final bids on the Cubs, Wrigley Field, and a 25 percent stake in ComcastSports Chicago.
The group of bidders has reportedly been whittled down to four. Sources close to the process say that the four are Jim Crane, the former chief executive of freight-forwarding company EGL Inc; Thomas Ricketts, chief executive of Chicago investment bank Incapital LLC and the son of Joseph Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp; Marc Utay, a managing partner with New York-based private equity firm Clarion Capital Partners LLC; and Chicago real estate executive Hersh Klaff.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been said to be out of the running, even before insider trading charges were levied against Cuban by the SEC.
The deal, once targeted at above $1 billion has been besieged by the sour economy with the Tribune Co. shifting from wanting a 5 percent ownership equity to 50 percent. The increase in ownership signals a willingness of Tribune to retain a larger stake in exchange for keeping bidders in play as the depleted credit market wreaks havoc on the process.
With the GM meetings coming up and the Cubs now on a tighter budget, hopefully this plays out quickly. That would be unusual in this process, nothing in this sale has gone quickly thus far, so why would this? If there is anything else that comes out today, I’ll update this post, if not well…
At least three prospective buyers have submitted a new round of bids to Tribune Co. for the Chicago Cubs, one of professional sports’ trophy franchises.
Chicago real estate investor Hersch Klaff; the Ricketts family, founder of online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Marc Utay, a New York private equity investor, delivered their proposals by the Thanksgiving deadline, according to sources involved in the negotiations.
Sources declined to comment on the size of the three bids, which include the team, Wrigley Field and Tribune’s 25-percent stake in Comcast SportsNet, a regional cable sports network.
It was unknown at the time this report was filed whether two other prospective buyers — Houston businessman Jim Crane and Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team — had submitted new bids.
waxpaperbeercup is a chicago cubs blog written by me, cub fan corncobdress (ccd). The opinions on this blog are mine. You may like some, you won’t others.
about ccd–Just so you understand where I am coming from on this page. I am a lifelong, often frustrated, Chicago Cubs fan, in my late 30’s.
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