Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Considering the Cubs were probably the most disappointing team in baseball in 2009, they definitely have their work cut out for them this offseason in order to return to being a legitimate contender. I guess Cubs fans should take solace in the fact that a winning season was considered a colossal failure -- after all, they have had a winning record in three consecutive seasons for the first time since the Nixon administration now. It's simply a sign that the bar has been raised in Wrigleyville. No longer content to play "lovable losers," Lou Piniella's Cubs are determined to win it all. New owner and lifelong Cubs fan Tom Ricketts has guaranteed the Cubs will win a World Series under his watch.
After altering the best Cubs team since 1945, general manager Jim Hendry has to find a way to get some of that magic back in 2010. He'll have to start by unloading one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
The Chicago Cubs have finally won. They've got a new owner who isn't afraid to go straight to the local media and announce that the Cubs are going to the World Series. Boastful words, considering that the Cubs haven't even made it to the playoffs since Abraham Lincoln was in office. But it's just this sort of powerful, positive thinking that can do wonders for a ballclub, and as far as baby steps go, this is a pretty freaking big baby.
The transcript of Tom Ricketts being prideful before another season full of "every Cubs season" is after the jump.
For the first time since they officially became the new owners of the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family spoke to the media on Friday morning in Chicago, and they made their top goal as owners perfectly clear. They are going to win a World Series. That's what Tom Ricketts told the throng of reporters surrounding him.
It was one of many things the new owner shared, but obviously, considering the Cubs' history of not winning the World Series, that's the line that will either solidify the Ricketts family as legends in Chicago, or hang over their heads for as long as they own the club.
There hasn't been a team in Major League Baseball to file for bankruptcy in 39 years, and one of the last teams you would expect to break the drought would be the affluent Cubs. Say what you will about their on-field performance, but the one thing the Cubs do annually is make money. The problem, though, is that they are owned by the bankrupt Tribune Company.
Having the Cubs separately file bankruptcy would help to speed the impending sale of the team to a group headed by Tom Ricketts for what has been estimated as a $900 million bid. According to Bloomberg.com, here is how:
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).
Tom Ricketts and his family put in the winning bid to purchase the Chicago Cubs back in January, but the details of their offer have yet to be finalized four months later, and Ricketts is looking to find some other investors to help back his $900 million offer for the team. He doesn't need the help with the $850 million he's raised with a loan and selling some shares in the family business, TD Ameritrade, but if you can get it, why not?
The latest group of people he's checked in on to see if they'd like to invest in the team includes just about every local celebrity Cubs fan in Chicago. He's giving people like Bill Murray (pictured right), John Cusack and Jim Belushi a chance to earn some special privliges with the team for the low, low price of $25 million.
The long, arduous Cubs sale is not yet over, but late yesterday it got a good bit closer: Tom Ricketts, the chairman of a corporate bond dealer and the son of T.D. Ameritrade owner Joseph Ricketts, bought the team for a reported $900 million.
That wasn't the highest offer but was the one with the most cash behind it; as the Tribune Company is currently bankrupt, cash is a powerful thing.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
The Chicago Cubs have finally won. They've got a new owner who isn't afraid to go straight to the local media and announce that 
For the first time since they officially became the new owners of the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family spoke to the media on Friday morning in Chicago, and they made their top goal as owners perfectly clear. They 
There hasn't been a team in Major League Baseball to file for bankruptcy in 39 years, and one of the last teams you would expect to break the drought would be the affluent Cubs. Say what you will about their on-field performance, but the one thing the Cubs do annually is make money. The problem, though, is that they are owned by the bankrupt Tribune Company. 
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 
Tom Ricketts and his family put in the winning bid to purchase the Chicago Cubs back in January, but the details of their offer have yet to be finalized four months later, and Ricketts is looking to find some other investors to help back his $900 million offer for the team. He doesn't need the help with the $850 million he's raised with a loan and selling some shares in the family business, TD Ameritrade, but if you can get it, why not?
The long, arduous Cubs sale is not yet over, but late yesterday it got a good bit closer: 
