Cubs sale: Ricketts will get first shot
Bruce Levine is reporting that Tom Ricketts will get the first chance to negotiate with Sam Zell and the Tribune to buy the Chicago Cubs. As many smarter bloggers and writers have explained this doesn’t mean the process is over for for either Hersch Klaff or Marc Utey (probably not even close if we learned anything from this 2 year process).
So if Zell is not happy with the offer from Ricketts, he’ll just move right on down the list. This thing is not near over by a long shot. It just enters another stage at this point. Crane Kenney’s comments that they can have a deal in place by Opening Day, don’t seem likely, but who knows maybe the process that has moved at a snails pace will pickup when negotiations between the Tribsters and the Ricketts’ start to take place.
According to reports none of the three finalists will have problem passing mustard with MLB. Levine even stated that Selig is willing to call a special conference call to approve the Cubs new owner.
lol — meaning what? that zell is unhappy with all the offers and thinks he can talk them up by playing offers off one another? LMAO! zell screwed the pooch and clearly it’s affecting his judgement.
gaius marius
January 17, 2009 at 7:39 pm
What’s funny gm, is the longer he waits, the worse things could get. If he has a chance to make a deal he should do it, because the price ain’t going up anytime soon.
wpbc
January 17, 2009 at 10:09 pm
It’s good to see you guys back in business.
My wife and I are expecting our first child in June.
Y’all keep up with them good facts here!
JDNoce
January 18, 2009 at 2:18 am
Congratulations, JD.
MB21
January 18, 2009 at 7:40 am
Congrats JD, it will change your life! In a very positive way!
I’m following the Blackhawks through your blog.
wpbc
January 18, 2009 at 8:44 am
Many ways to read this imho. Zell has created this process to try to squeeze every last cent out of the transaction aka Scott Boras. Or they have the offer they will agree to but the deal needs to be structured in a Zell type optimized way and they hold the other bidders and the walk away scenario out there to move things their way… or the Ricketts deal is far superior but they want to puff up their chests and look flush with high interest and competitive bids to keep the Ricketts bid from contracting.
In any case the desire of the fans to get this thing done has no bearing whatsoever in Zell’s approach… the history of this thing is anyting but quick moving and nothing Kenney says can really be taken at face value. One must look at the motivation behind the statement in trying to infer what is really happening. My guess is that the do have a viable offer and once Zell figures he has as much as he can get the deal will get done.
I don’t see how this could possibly provide the Club with a higher payroll to add another impact player because there won’t be an owner to discuss this with until the start of the baseball season at the earliest. More significant is that the convention is a promotional event and public ticket sales at higher prices begin in a couple of weeks. The promotional value of the statement goes hand in hand with the negotiating tactic. It is just as likely that this does not happen the way Kenney has suggested it will because the statements have been configured for purpose and there is a vast history of inaccurate staements in this non-proceeding.
jh
January 18, 2009 at 1:24 pm
ding, ding, ding! I agree with all of that.
I think the value of the Cubs dropped dramatically when Cuban pulled out of the race. I think the value of the team could fall further if Zell let’s this deal continue to move at such a slow pace. More and more of the bidders will get antsy about making a move like this in unsettling times. If Zell can get $850 million for this thing he should take the money and run IMHO.
wpbc
January 19, 2009 at 1:00 pm
[...] Tags: cubs sale, hersch klaff, marc utey, sam zell, tom ricketts, tribune trackback Bruce Levine reported it over the weekend, Maury Brown reported it back in September. The Tribune has finally made it official, the bid that [...]
Cubs sale: Bright One reports it’s Ricketts « waxpaperbeercup
January 22, 2009 at 6:12 pm