It’s with a big grain of salt that I post this. WGN radio’s David Kaplan is reporting that the sale of the club to Tom Ricketts will be complete within two weeks:

According to a good baseball source I spoke with a few hours ago, the Cubs sale is far more imminent than it was once believed. Tom Ricketts and the Tribune Company are working towards the deal that would give Ricketts possession of the Cubs and it should be done in the next two weeks, barring any unforseen circumstance.

The reason for the grain of salt on this post is I cannot find another news source confirming this story. So take it for what it is a rumor.

It looks like bringing the Utay group back into the bidding process has stepped up the urgency for Ricketts to get the deal done. Reports of the two sides settling their differences with respect to the broadcast rights have been trickling out.

On the field: Lou Piniella is going to leadoff Sam Fuld this afternoon vs. the Brewers and Alfonso Soriano is heading to the sixth spot in the lineup. Soriano has been in the most prolonged slump of his career and the time to do something appears to be now after Fuld sparked the offense on Wednesday and Thursday.

Beyond that Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson both had hits for Peoria in their game against Kane County last night out in Geneva, IL. Ramirez is aiming to return to the Cubs lineup Monday vs. Atlanta.

This from old 1060w pal gaius marius who is all things depression:

long considered “recession-proof” by many, baseball is suffering a fairly terrible attendance decline. baseball reference is keeping a running tally.

through yesterday’s games, attendance for the 30 MLB teams is off (-5.1%) — which would represent the single worst one-year attendance decline since the 1930s.

excluding the new york teams — which, as they have both opened new stadiums with smaller capacities, is only prudent — the decline is (-3.8%), which would still be among the worst year-over-year changes on record.

The biggest loser (when you eliminate the Mets playing in a smaller ballpark as gm states above) is the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. The Tigers are down 8,448 fans per game. The biggest winner, would you believe the KC Royals in a newly renovated Kaufman Stadium. The Royals have increased attendance, 4,155 per game. Cubs attendance has changed very little. They are down 418 fans per game. That can be contributed to the economy, poor play or the awful weather we have had hear much of the spring. Your guess is as good as mine.

As mentioned before on this page, when you look back at baseball during the great depression it actually was a full season before baseball felt the ramifications of the 1929 stock market crash. 1930 was actually a record attendance year for MLB. But by 1931 it was really bad:

Attendance fell 16 percent in 1931, driven not just by rising unemployment but also a decision by the owners to dampen the scoring boom by changing the rules for what constituted a home run and tinkering with the composition of Spalding’s baseballs.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I wouldn’t bet on a baseball attendance recovery anytime soon, as a matter of fact it will probably get worse before it gets better.

Great news on the Cubs front today! Jim Hendry has decided to make a move. He has traded PTBNL to the Rockies in exchange for Jeff Baker. Baker joins a long line of middle infielders for the Cubs under Hendry.

Delino DeShields
Bobby Hill
Chris Stynes
Augie Ojeda
Mark Bellhorn
Mark Grudzielanek
Alex Gonzalez
Ramon Martinez
Jose Hernandez (his second go round with the club)
Tony Womack (twice)
Todd Walker
Jose Macias
Neifi Perez
Rey Ordonez
Brendan Harris
Jerry Hairston
Nomar Garciaparra
Ronny Cedeno
Enrique Wilson
Ryan Theriot
Freddie Bynum
Cesar Izturis
Mark DeRosa
Mike Fontenot
Eric Patterson
Aaron Miles
Andres Blanco
Bobby Scales
Ryan Freel
Jeff Baker

Yeeee haw. I smell a pennant!

Lastnite against Pittsburgh the Cubs offense was once again horrendous. The club was shut out for the eighth time overall and the second time in three ballgames. Eight shutouts in 74 ballgames matches the total number of times the Cubs were shutout in the entire 2008 regular season. For comparisons sake through 74 games last year the Cubs had been shutout a total of three times.

Where all of this ends is anyone’s guess. Aramis Ramirez is scheduled to make a few rehab starts in the minors this weekend and hopefully he’ll be ready to get back into the middle of the Cubs lineup sometime during this upcoming homestand. Ramirez should help, but he certainly cannot be expected to carry the entire load of the Cubs offense. An offense that has been so pathetic this season it is hard to put into words.

Lastnite’s eighth inning display in Pittsburgh was a shining example of the pile of shit the Cubs offense is in 2009. It really was for the most part the Cubs first half frustration all in one half inning. Here’s what happened:

John Grabow replaced the great Ross Ohlendorf who looked like a combination of Cy Young/Don Drysdale and Christy Matthewson all rolled into one against the Cubs vaunted offense over 7 IP. Theriot led off with a single to right. Milton Bradley pinch hit, because he got to bat right handed, and hit a shot that Jack Wilson made a great play on in the hole. But Wilson threw the ball past Sanchez covering 2b and the Cubs were in business. Runners on second and third with nobody out, top of the order coming up.

Those of you who have watched the Cubs at all this year probably knew what was coming next, it wasn’t hard to predict. Alfonso Soriano struck out on a ball outside the zone. Kosuke Fukudome struckout looking on a ball right in the middle of the strikezone. Derrek Lee grounded out to Sanchez and another Cubs chance had went by the board.

The inning highlighted the Cubs horrendous hitting this season with RISP. The Cubs .215 batting average with RISP ranks dead last in all of baseball. What is probably most frustrating is how often the team fails to even put the ball in play when the opposition is conceding a run. That’s all Fonzie had to do and it didn’t happen. It’s all Kosuke had to do and it was the same result. It really is downright painful to watch this kind of thing happen again and again. Ahhhh but what can you do?

Anyways, these are the frustrations of your 2009 Chicago Cubs, they’ll be on display all summer at Clark and Addison.

nutshell courtesy of Chuck at Ivy Chat

Take a look at the morning standings. The Chicago Cubs are 10 games under the .500 mark playing away from Wrigley Field. Even teams with the best home records would struggle to overcome a .368 winning percentage on the road. The Cubs are probably not even good enough to finish at .500 if this kind of play on the road continues.

While much was made of the Bradley/Piniella soap opera this weekend at US Cellular Field, much of that was a distraction from the real obvious issues that are presenting themselves. Simply stated, this is on the players. Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella do not hit baseballs, they do not catch baseball’s and thankfully they don’t pitch them. So while many decide to blame Piniella and Hendry for the play on the field, I’m not in that camp.

The Cubs (even without Aramis Ramirez) put out a starting lineup on a daily basis where four of the eight position players were all stars just last season. On most days the starting outfield consists of three 2008 all stars. The under performance of these 4 players (Soto, Soriano, Bradley and Fukudome) is to blame for where this team finds itself.

Still many have decided that the Chicago tradition of blaming the management is a better option than pointing out the obvious poor play of the Cubs offensive players. Yeah sure, Hendry shouldn’t have traded Mark DeRosa, but honestly do you think he would make up for the poor play that is all around the diamond on this club? Hendry’s hands now appear to be tied by the never ending sales process, but he did his job this offseason. He built the best team he could, a team that was the prohibitive favorite to win this division running away.

We can question Lou’s handling of the bullpen, but we all knew that was not his strong suit when the Cubs hired him. Of course we can get into the Lou’s not throwing bases argument, or the fact that he has lost his fire, or he’s on some sort of retirement tour. All of that shit is mindless crap put out by a press and a fan bases that has to realize that a manager looks stupid when his offense goes anemic. It doesn’t matter if it’s Casey Stengel or John McGraw managing, if his offense ain’t scoring runs he looks like a bad manager.

The issue is as clear as this bright blue Chicago morning, it’s the Cubs offense. Bradley is an absolute trainwreck in the lefthanded batters box, Soriano has been in the biggest slump of his career, Soto hasn’t put the idea of a sophomore slump to rest. Unless the veteran talent starts to hit, there really is little use in watching this in hopes of some sort of season saving surge. At some point the blame has to go where it belongs on the ballplayers.

If you can remember back to last winter, there were three finalists to be the next owner of the Cubs. They were groups led by Tom Ricketts, Marc Utay and Hersch Klaff. Yesterday we learned that Sam Zell and the Tribsters are now negotiating with Utay again. Of course Tom Ricketts remains the frontrunner. So what happened to Hersch Klaff and his group? At one point, Klaff was considered by many to be the closest challenger to Ricketts. Ameet Sachdev found out in today’s Tribune:

In fact, Hersch Klaff, a Chicago real estate investor who was one of the finalists in the auction, said Thursday that he is no longer interested.

“It’s a different world now,” he said. “This deal was priced for a different time.”

“This deal was priced for a different time”, that’s a real interesting statement from a man that knows this process better than most. This isn’t as detailed but it’s pretty close to what Mark Cuban expressed said last Januay on his blog. It’s no wonder that Ricketts isn’t prepared to finalize the deal at the originally agreed to price. The fact is the Cubs are not worth now what they were last winter, which was nowhere near what they were worth back in the summer of 2008.The value of the Chicago Cubs, like all professional sports franchises is going down.

Back to Utay, while many speculate (including myself) that this is just a negotiating tactic for Zell. Utay and partner Leo Hindery look to be all business about getting the club:

Utay appears to be serious in his renewed pursuit of the Cubs. He has been trying to raise money in the last few weeks, said a source familiar with the matter.

A second source added, “Both parties are aggressively moving toward a complete bid.”

One begins to wonder if Zell held this whole thing up to try and bring some competition back into the process. Whatever the case, the sales process is wide open again. Ricketts is no longer a slam dunk, but he remains the leader to get this thing done.

Beginning to sound like the deal with the Ricketts family is falling apart. Yesterday we had the assurance from a Ricketts spokesperson that everything was fine, well guess what…that was a smokescreen.

According to Reuters Marc Utay and his group are back in the bidding process:

An exclusivity period between Tribune and the Ricketts group has ended and the media company is now talking to a group that includes private equity investors Marc Utay and Leo Hindery, three sources familiar with the situation said.

“We know that they went back to the Utay group,” said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified because the sales process has not closed.

More from Crain’s:

“It is crystal clear that he’s talking to others and the outcome’s not determined,” a second source said of Zell. “Until someone has a signed purchase agreement, anything is possible.”

Tribune Co.and its banker, JP Morgan, have entered into formal talks with the Utay/Hindery group and a deal could be reached late next week, a third source said.

A deal with Utay could be reached next week? LOL.

Or is this move just Zell trying to get more leverage with Ricketts?

However, others said the re-emergence of the Utay/Hindery group, which finished just shy of the Ricketts’ offer in January, also could be a way for Tribune Co.to pressure Ricketts into settling on terms desired by the media company. Two sources described the sides as on the verge of a deal.

“That’s just a way to keep the fire on the Ricketts,” the first source said. “The Ricketts have never been closer to getting a deal done.”

While the Ricketts group has lined up its financing, sources previously told Reuters that the sides have been unable to reach agreement on the value of Cubs’ broadcast contracts.

Last night CNBC released this story on the internet that said the Ricketts deal for the Chicago Cubs had hit a snag.

Those unresolved issues include the final purchase price, tax issues and certain broadcasting matters. The sale includes Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in the team’s regional sports network.

Sources confirmed to CNBC that Ricketts received a letter from Tribune Company about the matter a few weeks ago.

The letter stated that unless the remaining matters were agreed to within a specific time frame, Ricketts could risk losing the deal or Tribune could begin talks with other interested parties.

Sources say Ricketts is seeking to reduce the final purchase price by tens of millions of dollars

There’s really not much new here, they can’t agree on final sale price, tax issues, and of course the broadcast agreement with the Tribune. Other than that everything is just great. Well, apparently the Ricketts family didn’t like this report, because this followed:

Dennis Culloton, who represents Ricketts, said Wednesday that media reports suggesting otherwise are untrue. He said negotiations are continuing and “moving along very positively.”

Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman declined Wednesday to confirm or deny the reports.

Weitman says the Tribune is still in talks with the Ricketts family “with an eye toward reaching a definitive agreement.”

Spin control at it’s finest. This deal is doesn’t appear to be moving any which way. There are still three major issues to hurdle to complete this sale. Don’t hold your breath.

The Cubs and Sox will kick off the 2009 version of the crosstown classic at Wrigley Field this evening. A world championship for the Sox in 2005 and the Cubs national league contention the last few years, and high expectations this season have probably dulled the fans intensity for this series a little bit. Still it is Cubs/Sox so I expect that by 7:05 tonite everyone will be jazzed up and ready to go.

Below are my top 5 Cubs/Sox games at Wrigley Field:

5. June 22, 2003. Cubs 2 – Sox 1 — A pitchers duel between a young Carlos Zambrano and Bartolo Colon. The Sox were on the verge of sweeping the Cubs. But the Cubs scored 2 in the bottom of the eighth off Damaso Marte, the eventual game winning hit was a single off the bat of Corey Patterson of all people.

4. July 4, 2004. Cubs 2 – Sox 1 — July 4th, ESPN Sunday night game under the lights. Glendon (Spahn) Rusch vs. Mark Buehrle in a dandy pitchers duel. Derrek Lee hit a second inning homerun off Buehrle that for the longest time looked like it would hold up. In the ninth inning, Carlos Lee homers off of Latroy Hawkins to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth the Cubs win on a bases loaded walk to Todd Walker.

3. May 19, 2007. Cubs 11 – Sox 6. The Cubs were below .500 at this point in the season. The game was 5-5 heading into the 8th when the Sox scored to take the lead. In the bottom of the inning the Cubs knocked around their former teammate David Aardsma pretty good. Soriano singled to tie the game and Ramirez tripled to give the Cubs the lead. Two batters later a hobbled Derrek Lee pinch hit against Boone Logan and hit a grand slam that put the game out of reach.

2. June 20, 2008. Cubs 4 — White Sox 3 — The Ramirez game! The Cubs offense does little against John Danks. Trailing 3-1 to start the 7th, Lee and Ramirez hit back to back dingers to start the inning. In the ninth, Ramirez wins it with a homerun leading off the inning, off of Scott Linebrink.

1. June 5, 1998. Cubs 6 — White Sox 5 (12) — This was only the second season of interleague play. The Cubs had played three at Comiskey in 1997. In 1998 the series moved to the northside. Brant Brown with a walk off homerun in the bottom of the 12th, to give the Cubs the victory. Wrigleyville was up for grabs and the magical summer of 1998 was on.

That’s what I have. If I left one off the list, tell me about it. Enjoy the series!

This week SI.com has a really cool article that takes a look at many of the pitching phenoms that were the Stephen Strasburg’s of their day. They interviewed nine phenoms from the past half century, among them was the Cubs number one pick in 2001 Mark Prior. If there is one thing injuries give you it is probably a real good perspective on things, that seems to be what Mark Prior has these days.

Below are quotes from Prior in the article

On being called up:

When I got called up, I was replacing a guy who was 1–7, and Don Baylor was getting fired and we were on our way to losing 95 games. Joe Girardi was my catcher and he said, “Be professional, know your job, know your responsibilities on the field and off.” My transition happened so fast, I don’t think I appreciated what it took to get there.

On injuries:

Injuries make you look at the big picture, at what it means to be in the major leagues. It’s not like I was one of those guys who was drafted high and never made it or barely made it. I made it, performed at a high level and because of injuries wasn’t able to maintain that level.

On what he’s doing now:

Unfortunately, there’s no timetable for my return right now. It’s good, it’s bad, it’s rehab. The Padres are giving me the time I need. The more I’m away from the game, the more I appreciate the intricacies of it. That’s what I miss. I miss watching guys and knowing, ‘This is what I would do in that situation.’ I just want to play again.

In 2003, many of us were carving his plaque for Cooperstown. I would have never guessed that Mark Prior’s career would stand where it does now in 2009. The guy is one of the more tragic figures in the history of the club with the phenom status, the early success, putting the team on his back for a postseason run, getting the team within 5 outs of the NL Pennant and all of the injuries that followed.

It was a wild ride with Mark Prior, like most things Cubs it didn’t end with the storybook finish. He now finds his place in baseball lore with the likes of David Clyde, Paul Pettit and Lew Krausse not Gibson, Seaver, and Drysdale.