I wish our team could be sold in a month and a half

by fischisgod on Jan 3, 2009 12:22 PM CST

I find this absolutely amazing that the Padres went on the market in mid-to late November and were sold by the first week of January. This really makes me wonder what the hell has been going on with our ownership situation. At first I was kind of like ok, this is fun we are playing with Zell's dollars, but now its just annoying. We are having a hard time improving our ballclub, and we can't even get fair return on our players becuase teams no we have to cut payroll. (DeRosa) I am just getting a little annoyed, and have a strong feeling that Blago had a lot to do with delaying this.

/Rant

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Zell isn't going through a divorce

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Jan 3, 2009 12:28 PM CST reply actions

Yea i know that

you would almost think that getting his wife to sign on to the idea would still make it take some time.. I mean this got done so quickly

"I played with one of the best pitchers in history, Greg Maddux," Zambrano said"

by fischisgod on Jan 3, 2009 12:38 PM CST up reply actions

It is expected to take 6 months at least for the Padres to be sold

but that does seem like the speed of lightening compared to the Cubs

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry

by Doggie Stalker on Jan 3, 2009 12:41 PM CST reply actions

Frankly

on some of my diets, the speed of lightening was awfully slow.

Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"

by cubzfan on Jan 3, 2009 12:46 PM CST up reply actions

The Padres are a different animal altogether.

They are selling just the team. The divorce makes it closer to a fire sale of sorts- or at least creates incentive to move quickly.

The Cubs are selling the team, the stadium and a share of CSN. Zell was in no hurry, initially to sell of the most (only?) profitable part of the Tribune Co. He could explore options to maximize his take- and he did. Now, there is pressure and his options are known- it’s moving along.

"Baseball is like church- many attend, few understand." ~ Leo Durocher

by The Lip on Jan 3, 2009 1:23 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

Correct.

The two situations are not comparable. IIRC, it took almost this long for the Atlanta Braves sale to be consummated.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 3, 2009 2:39 PM CST up reply actions

Does the huge difference in payroll make a difference too? (Padres vs. Cubs 2009 Payroll)

by EJThunder on Jan 4, 2009 3:39 PM CST up reply actions

Probably not.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 4, 2009 4:12 PM CST up reply actions

Reading through the lines

Jim Hendry was on XM and made mention that the Cubs sale may be resolved in the next month or so. Perhaps he was just talking but perhaps he also knows something. It seems to me that the fiscal parameters of the Cubs payroll has changed. While payroll kept Wood from being signed, it did not seem to necessitate trades to clear payroll room for the likes of a new lefty RF. Now that has changed and we’ve seen Derosa traded and Marquis on the verge of being traded.

So I am wondering if the new owner has been determined and they have given Hendry a payroll figure lower then he expected.

by dmlichte on Jan 3, 2009 2:29 PM CST reply actions

I think you will see an announcement before the owners meeting which happens

January 13-15.

by cubswin on Jan 3, 2009 8:19 PM CST reply actions

Really?

That’s next week. If you’re right, that’d be good news.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 4, 2009 4:50 AM CST up reply actions

Zell was a robber baron hoping to really cash in ...

now his business acumen is showing itself to be as threadbare as an investment CEO from Bear Stearns .. I wish it would’ve been sold three months ago to Mark Cuban.

And the tooth fairy will give back deposits ..

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Jan 3, 2009 11:06 PM CST reply actions

This is foolish

his business acumen is showing itself to be as threadbare as an investment CEO from Bear Stearns

Do you have any clue about the business acumen of Sam Zell? Do you know a thing about him besides the Tribune deal? The man is a brilliant businessman who has made a fortune over a long career and he hasn’t done this by dumb luck. He knows his stuff. The Trib deal may prove to be a failure, and a lot of this will be about timing and the economy, but even if Trib flops, that won’t take away much from what has been a tremendous track record for Zell.

by dmlichte on Jan 3, 2009 11:27 PM CST up reply actions

Here we go with the Cuban stuff again.

It’s pretty clear that Cuban’s offer wasn’t anywhere near what it was going to take to consummate this deal. It was all flash and glitz with no substance.

It appears to me that the Ricketts group is going to be the new owner, and I’m fine with that. They’re Cubs fans originally from Chicago with deep pockets. As long as they open those pockets and let the baseball people do their jobs, we’ll all be happy with them.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 4, 2009 4:52 AM CST up reply actions