01-18-2009, 01:51 AM
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Cubs chairman thinks sale’s imminent
By ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer 7 hours, 8 minutes ago
CHICAGO (AP)—Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said again he expects the team’s sale to be completed by opening day and the list of potential buyers could be down to one by the end of the month.
He also left the door open—slightly—for Tribune Co. to hang onto it at least a little longer.
The company put the Cubs on the market on opening day 2007, when it accepted a buyout from real estate mogul Sam Zell. Since then, Tribune has slowly whittled the list of potential buyers from 10 to three in a sale that could net $1 billion for the team and historic Wrigley Field.
Kenney has said several times recently he thinks a new owner will be in place by the start of the season, and did it again Saturday during the Cubs’ fan convention.
“What I’ve been told is they’re working now, and this month sometime you’ll probably have one bidder that they’re working to get a deal with,” he said. “If they can’t get a deal with that bidder, they’ll have two others to go back to. The other thing is if the terms of any of the bids aren’t satisfactory to Sam, he won’t sell because he doesn’t have to sell it. He’s got protection through bankruptcy from any of the obligations he’s got to the lenders now, and he’ll wait for a better market.”
Tribune Co. kept the Cubs and Wrigley Field out of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last month. Analysts believe that could result in a higher sale price, which would boost creditors put on hold by the move. But it’s not clear whether those creditors would agree to leave such assets out of the bankruptcy court’s domain.
Either way, a drawn-out sale process appears to be approaching the end.
Three potential buyers have been identified in media reports: Tom Ricketts, a Chicago financier, member of the founding family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., and chief executive of InCapital LLC; Hersch Klaff, who owns a Chicago commercial real estate firm; and a partnership between two New Yorkers involved in private equity, Marc Utay of Clarion Capital and Leo Hindery Jr. of InterMedia Partners.
Once Tribune accepts a bid, the potential buyer would have to be approved by Major League Baseball’s ownership committee before all the owners vote on the sale.
The uncertainty surrounding ownership the past two years hasn’t stopped the Cubs from enjoying one of their most successful stretches, but the championship drought continues—100 years and counting.
After seeing their team get swept out of the playoffs the past two years, fans want more.
So does general manager Jim Hendry.
“We’re here for one reason—to win the world championship,” he told fans.
What he can’t figure out is why the team hasn’t been able to win a postseason game the past two years against Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers, let alone advance a round.
Manager Lou Piniella has a theory.
“I think they tried to overdo it,” he said.
He saw players pressing, trying to pull the ball when they should have gone the other way. He also saw a lineup that didn’t have enough left-handed bats.
That’s one reason the Cubs traded away the versatile and popular Mark DeRosa after they led the National League with 97 wins. They added switch-hitters Milton Bradley and Aaron Miles, hoping to balance the lineup.
They also let oft-injured closer Kerry Wood go as a free agent because they were unwilling to give him the three-year deal he sought, meaning Carlos Marmol will now finish games.
So the Cubs will have a different look on the field to go with the new owner.
Notes
Kenney inadvertently took some shots at infamous fan Steve Bartman and former manager Dusty Baker in a separate question-and-answer sessions with fans. The jab at Bartman came when a fan asked if there will be any improvements at Wrigley Field this season. Kenney mentioned a new beer garden. He also mentioned the angst that surrounds projects at the old ballpark, such as the bleacher renovation a few years ago. “We had women in lawn chairs trying to block the construction crews,” he said. “We called them the weeping women. They were out there every day. We’d sit there and say, ‘If we don’t do this right’ and people say, ‘You’ve destroyed the bleacher culture,’ my family’s going to have to move to Bartman-ville. Right?” The crowd groaned at that remark. The swipe at Baker came while defending Piniella in a later session. “If you think about the team that won in ’07, does that team win with our former manager? Not a chance,” Kenney said, referring to a team that made the playoffs after a brutal start.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer 7 hours, 8 minutes ago
CHICAGO (AP)—Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said again he expects the team’s sale to be completed by opening day and the list of potential buyers could be down to one by the end of the month.
He also left the door open—slightly—for Tribune Co. to hang onto it at least a little longer.
The company put the Cubs on the market on opening day 2007, when it accepted a buyout from real estate mogul Sam Zell. Since then, Tribune has slowly whittled the list of potential buyers from 10 to three in a sale that could net $1 billion for the team and historic Wrigley Field.
Kenney has said several times recently he thinks a new owner will be in place by the start of the season, and did it again Saturday during the Cubs’ fan convention.
“What I’ve been told is they’re working now, and this month sometime you’ll probably have one bidder that they’re working to get a deal with,” he said. “If they can’t get a deal with that bidder, they’ll have two others to go back to. The other thing is if the terms of any of the bids aren’t satisfactory to Sam, he won’t sell because he doesn’t have to sell it. He’s got protection through bankruptcy from any of the obligations he’s got to the lenders now, and he’ll wait for a better market.”
Tribune Co. kept the Cubs and Wrigley Field out of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last month. Analysts believe that could result in a higher sale price, which would boost creditors put on hold by the move. But it’s not clear whether those creditors would agree to leave such assets out of the bankruptcy court’s domain.
Either way, a drawn-out sale process appears to be approaching the end.
Three potential buyers have been identified in media reports: Tom Ricketts, a Chicago financier, member of the founding family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., and chief executive of InCapital LLC; Hersch Klaff, who owns a Chicago commercial real estate firm; and a partnership between two New Yorkers involved in private equity, Marc Utay of Clarion Capital and Leo Hindery Jr. of InterMedia Partners.
Once Tribune accepts a bid, the potential buyer would have to be approved by Major League Baseball’s ownership committee before all the owners vote on the sale.
The uncertainty surrounding ownership the past two years hasn’t stopped the Cubs from enjoying one of their most successful stretches, but the championship drought continues—100 years and counting.
After seeing their team get swept out of the playoffs the past two years, fans want more.
So does general manager Jim Hendry.
“We’re here for one reason—to win the world championship,” he told fans.
What he can’t figure out is why the team hasn’t been able to win a postseason game the past two years against Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers, let alone advance a round.
Manager Lou Piniella has a theory.
“I think they tried to overdo it,” he said.
He saw players pressing, trying to pull the ball when they should have gone the other way. He also saw a lineup that didn’t have enough left-handed bats.
That’s one reason the Cubs traded away the versatile and popular Mark DeRosa after they led the National League with 97 wins. They added switch-hitters Milton Bradley and Aaron Miles, hoping to balance the lineup.
They also let oft-injured closer Kerry Wood go as a free agent because they were unwilling to give him the three-year deal he sought, meaning Carlos Marmol will now finish games.
So the Cubs will have a different look on the field to go with the new owner.
Notes
Kenney inadvertently took some shots at infamous fan Steve Bartman and former manager Dusty Baker in a separate question-and-answer sessions with fans. The jab at Bartman came when a fan asked if there will be any improvements at Wrigley Field this season. Kenney mentioned a new beer garden. He also mentioned the angst that surrounds projects at the old ballpark, such as the bleacher renovation a few years ago. “We had women in lawn chairs trying to block the construction crews,” he said. “We called them the weeping women. They were out there every day. We’d sit there and say, ‘If we don’t do this right’ and people say, ‘You’ve destroyed the bleacher culture,’ my family’s going to have to move to Bartman-ville. Right?” The crowd groaned at that remark. The swipe at Baker came while defending Piniella in a later session. “If you think about the team that won in ’07, does that team win with our former manager? Not a chance,” Kenney said, referring to a team that made the playoffs after a brutal start.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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