Get Ready For The Japanese Invasion

from looking at that newspaper.

Does anyone have any idea where to get a Fukudome WBC jersey?  I've looked for hours on Yakyushop and other sites.  I'm especially interested in either a Japan WBC jersey, or an older script "Dragons" jersey (think LA Dodgers script). I'm almost to the point of ordering a knock-off custom made from Osan Korea.

From her mailbag:

That's precisely the phonetic pronunciation that BCB reader Josh gave me last week and I posted as the title of this post. Muskat puts the emphasis properly on the first syllable, but that's the only difference.

Hi, Carrie!

Not worth going to Google News Japan, but he arrived at O'Hare and is reported to have said: "wow...really cold!"

To be one of Hendry's top scouts.

Did I hear this right on the radio?

Is this good or bad? I can't decide. I mean, the Pirates didn't do jack under Dave.

has anyone looked at the photo gallery of the new national's stadium. wow!! its looks excellent. i like the design.

...on a Fukudome press conference?

"The 'other seven' transactions are likely along the lines of what I've written about here several times -- that one entity could purchase the ballpark and the team in separate transactions, set them up as different corporations or LLC's, and then lease the park back to whatever company is set up to own the Cubs. This has tax advantages for the buyer, and makes a lot of sense."
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Hi Al,  I love your site but have never posted here.  I do have a few comments to add to the discussion of the business side of cubs sale.

First, its not really conceivable that the Wrigley sale will be a sale/leaseback or even a version of that, in spite of what local sports newspaper journalists are writing.

A leaseback would occur if the new ownership group sold the ballpark after purchasing the whole package from the Trib.  Its typically done to free up cash, it turns a large asset into a small expense.  A basic driver of M&A is that the parts individually can be worth more than the whole, so you buy something and break it up.  Zell is well aware of this and he wont let anyone else take that premium, so hes breaking it up himself and selling the pieces to different parties.

My prediction: The team will be sold to a sentimental buyers group who will pay more than its worth financially.  The park will be sold to a serious business entity who will buy it and then maximize its revenues.  They will occur at the same time and a long term lease will be part of the deal.

Zell would likely break things up no matter what but he is particularly driven by the terms of some Tribune debt which must be paid in June '08.  The Cubs need to be sold by June or the house of cards Trib deal he put together may tumble.

What you describe above isn't a sale/leaseback either, its just one group buying everything and moving money from one pocket to another.  Its commonly done but we'd be unlikely to know about it because it doesn't matter - it would be one group owning the team and the stadium.  But that's unlikely to occur for the reasons I mentioned before.

As a side point its unlikely that the IFSA will end up with Wrigley.  The state isn't going to bid high and Zell will sell it to the highest bidder.  That story never made sense to me.

However its almost guaranteed that the naming rights will be sold, that revenue is being factored in by most interested parties already.

Its also very likely that a significant Wrigley remodel will occur after the sale of park, that's what should concern Cubs fans.  Preserving the feel of Wrigley that we all love in an updated park will be a challenging balancing act.  A big piece determining what the renovation will look like will be what else Wrigley is used for by the new owner - who will probably overpay and desperately need to utilize the park as much as possible.