More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Ted Lilly had arthroscopic surgery today. He'll be ready in April.

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Well, here's a bit of a surprise. Ted Lilly had shoulder surgery today, per Carrie Muskat's blog:

Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly underwent a left shoulder arthroscopy and debridement on Tuesday by noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. During the surgery, Yocum found no major damage to Lilly's shoulder and the procedure consisted of a washout and clean up of the shoulder. The procedure took approximately one hour to complete.

Lilly will immediately begin an aggressive range of motion and strengthening program. A timetable for a throwing program will be set when he's re-examined after Jan. 1. Typically, recovery time for a procedure such as this would place Lilly's return to the Cubs rotation within the month of April.

UPDATE: More after the jump.

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More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

As you might guess, left-handed setup relievers don't get many photos taken. So, this one in a Pirates uniform is the best one available of John Grabow.

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Per Bruce Levine, the Cubs and John Grabow continue to discuss a possible multi-year contract:

Agent Paul Kinzer represents Grabow, who would be the team's left-handed set-up man and a possible back-up closer in the event Carlos Marmol is injured or needs a day off.

The two sides are talking about a two-year deal for anywhere between a total of $6.5 million and $7.5 million. Grabow's people would like a vesting option for a third year added to the contract.

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More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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The Toronto Sun reports this morning on a potential Milton Bradley for Vernon Wells swap:

The Chicago Cubs would like to -- have to -- deal disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley. And one player they are eyeing as a target destination is the Blue Jays, with centre fielder Vernon Wells going to the Cubs in return.

"It's early on, but we think this one has some legs," said one Cubs official. "But they aren't the only team we are talking with."

Yes, "centre" is correct. Remember, the quote's from a Canadian paper. Vernon Wells signed an enormous contract with the Blue Jays before the 2008 season and there are six years left on the deal. How would the Cubs deal with that huge amount of money, given Tom Ricketts' statement yesterday that payroll would go up "slightly" next year, as well as Alfonso Soriano's remaining deal?

The Cubs' idea is to split the difference on monies owed -- Wells' $107 million and Bradley's $21 million for a difference of $86 million. Each team absorbs $43 million.

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More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

New Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts (standing) and his siblings (left to right) Pete, Todd and Laura, the new Cubs board of directors, at today's news conference.

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Years from now, maybe we can say that "next year" arrived on October 30, 2009.

Tom Ricketts is the new chairman of the Cubs, and with his two brothers and sister, will comprise the board of directors of the team. But it's more than just a few names you've heard of -- the Ricketts really are a large extended family; their parents Joe and Marlene and quite a number of small children were in attendance at today's press conference. Even more so than the Wrigley "family" ownership (which was really just one person at a time, William Wrigley Jr., then P.K. Wrigley after his father's death, and then William Wrigley III for the last few years), this team really is owned by a family, not just one person.

And during today's news conference, they not only emphasized their own family, but the Cubs family -- a family you and I are part of as Cubs fans. For lack of a better term, they "bleed Cubbie blue" just as all of us do. Each one of them told the story of having come to Chicago from Omaha for college and, at various times, falling in love with the city, the Wrigleyville area (where several of them lived) and the Cubs. The story you've heard about Tom meeting his wife in the bleachers -- true, corroborated with smiles from all three siblings, who were there on that day. They used to sleep out for bleacher tickets in the early 80's, went to nearly all the weekend games, and said that being a Cubs fan is "a special feeling", and that "we know owning the Cubs is an honor, and we intend to respect it".

Tom's sister Laura perhaps put it best: "The Cubs are bigger than us as owners, bigger than Wrigley itself. It's a matter of family pride for us."

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I'm off to Wrigley Field shortly, but wanted to share with you several quotes that I just received in an email from NPR -- there is going to be a full-length interview with Tom Ricketts on NPR News' Weekend Edition tomorrow at 9 am CDT.

You can find out more here and below the fold.

I'll have a full story posted late this afternoon after the news conference, which can be seen live on CSN Chicago at 11 am CDT. Some of the questions you wanted me to ask are at least partly answered in the quotes he gave NPR.

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As posted on ChicagoBreakingNews.com earlier this morning:

The Ricketts family are officially the new owners of the Chicago Cubs.

The family closed a transaction Tuesday morning to take control of the team, Wrigley Field and other assets in a deal valued at $845 million.

The family will hold a news conference Friday at the ballpark.

Discuss, etc. Also see kaseyi's FanPost.

Ho Ho Kam Park from the left field lawn. BCB photo by Lisa Dreishmire

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Ten days ago, I wrote that the Cubs were nearly certain to be staying in Mesa for spring training, most likely at a new complex to be built somewhere else in the city because the current Ho Ho Kam Park/Fitch Park sites aren't suitable for having an all-in-one complex with minor league, practice and major league fields in the same location.

Today, Gordon Wittenmyer confirms this in the Sun-Times:

While a Collier County, Fla., group may well be serious in its effort to lure the Cubs away from Mesa, Ariz., the chances of the Cubs leaving the greater Phoenix area in the foreseeable future appear to be slim to none, based on the logistical headaches already driving major league teams away from Florida, the Cubs' centerpiece position in Arizona's Cactus League and common sense.

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More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Just remember: one day the players celebrating like this will have blue pinstripes. And the fans behind them... will be us.

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Sigh. Let's go Phillies. Here are the takes on last night's game from Yankee fans and Angel fans, via their SB Nation blogs. The Angels played a good series against a tough team, then suddenly forgot how to field bunts when they could have had a real shot at tying the game in the 9th inning.

And now we have two more days off before the World Series begins. Here are the schedules played by the Yankees and Phillies since the regular season ended on October 4, including today and tomorrow:

Yankees: day off, day off, home game, day off, home game, day off, road game, day off, day off, day off, day off, home game, home game, day off, road game, road game, day off, road game, day off, rainout, home game, day off, day off

Phillies: day off, day off, home game, home game, day off, rainout, road game, road game, day off, day off, road game, road game, day off, home game, home game, day off, home game, day off, day off, day off, day off, day off, day off

Those aren't baseball schedules, they're NBA or NHL schedules (OK, NBA and NHL teams don't have rainouts, but you get the idea). Baseball has to do something about this... even though the weather in the Northeast is supposed to be fairly mild this week (in the 60's during the day, 50's at night), guess what the forecast is for game one in New York on Wednesday? That's right. More rain.

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