Tribune Company Finally Reaches Deal To Sell the Cubs

What was supposed to happen by the end of May, er, in February, er, in December of 2008 -- you get the idea. The sale of the Chicago Cubs from Sam Zell's Tribune Company has been dragging along at a sloth-like pace for as long as anyone cares to remember. Judging by this past weekend, though, it appears the finishing touches of the sale are coming to fruition.

Zell's group has agreed to sell the Cubs to the Ricketts family -- who made their fortune through TD Ameritrade -- for what is reported to be close to $900 million. The only remaining steps are that the sale must be approved by the rest of the baseball owners and then by a court (because the Tribune Company is operating over Chapter 11 bankruptcy).

The group led by Tom Ricketts, reportedly a lifelong Cubs fan, will be able to take over operations once those final two hurdles are cleared, and those appear to be a formality. The heavy lifting is complete.

As for the Cubs, speculation has been rampant about general manager Jim Hendry's inability to make the deals he wants due to payroll constraints. Of course, the Cubs have a $140 million payroll, so it's not like he's been dealing like a small-market general manager. Regardless, the thought that all of a sudden the floodgates can open up and they can become the Yankees of the National League is a bit premature. It's doubtful the sale is approved in time for Hendry to start dealing (the non-waiver trade deadline is less than a month away) and, even if he wanted to, he probably doesn't have the pieces to go get a superstar this season (the Cubs don't have many attractive minor-league prospects).

By the end of the year, though, the Ricketts family will be in full control and we'll get to see how the Cubs operate differently, if at all. For now, it's just another step in the process and a light at the end of the tunnel can now be seen.