Chasing Cubtober: Who Wants To Buy A Baseball Team?
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by LMedina86
The number one storyline coming from the Northside of Chicago this winter will come straight from the top. Cubs ownership, whoever it is, will likely be the biggest factor in what happens this off-season.
Last week, Gary Cohen of Medill Reports outlined four of the contenders to buy the Cubs in the off-season. Cohen lists the John Canning group as the favorite, while also mentioning Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Chicago Wolves owner Don Levin, and former Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo.
Canning has a slight edge, most notably because of his experience in baseball as a minority owner of Milwaukee Brewers and relationship with the commissioner, Bud Selig. However, the Canning group is not perfect. His connections to division rival Milwaukee and Selig could be seen could be
Cuban, who grew up a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is an intriguing figure. He has expressed interest in this team, and was in the bleachers for one of the Cubs biggest victories, a 7-6 come-from-behind victory against the Reds. His downfall might be his persona. Cuban is known for his outbursts towards NBA commissioner David Stern and that does not sit well with Selig or his comrades, notably White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who would be in direct competition with Cuban if he bought the Cubs.
Colangelo and Levin are both Chicagoland natives and Cubs fans, which has to give them some sort of edge in the situation. However, Colangelo has the advantage over Levin because Colangelo has been an MLB owner before. That puts him in the same boat with the Canning group.
The state of the Chicago Cubs has been in flux since Opening Day, when it was announced that Tribune Company and its assets were being brought by real estate mogul Sam Zell. Since then, Cubs ownership has nixed a Jacque Jones trade to the Marlins and lost about $11.5 million by botching the Carlos Zambrano extension. In April, he was reportedly close to signing a five-year deal worth $80 million. In August, "Big Z" signed for five-years and $91.5 million.
In a recent interview on Cubs.com, general manager Jim Hendry believes that the payroll will go up for next year and that the impending sale of Tribune Co. should not effect baseball operations. It will be Hendry’s job to repeat a stellar off-season like last year which netted the Cubs All-Star outfielder Alfonso Soriano, utility man Mark DeRosa and 15-game winner Ted Lilly.
The Cubs will likely be on a similar budget as last year. Even though every baseball expert claimed the Cubs spent $300 million in the off-season, they really spent $21.5 million on free agent players. They spent an additional $15.6 million on re-signing their own free agents. If the Cubs follow that budget, they will have about than $37 million to spend this off-season.
That seems like a good number to add some quality players to an 85-win division championship team. In the end, whoever buys the team will decide where its funds will go.
