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NEW YORK -- None of them were on the field Wednesday when Robinson Cano threw out Shane Victorino to clinch the Yankees' World Series championship.

And no one should be surprised if neither Hideki Matsui, Andy Pettitte nor Johnny Damon are on the field in Tampa, Fla., next February for Yankees' spring training.

But this championship would not have happened without them.

All three are potential free agents. And all three may wind up leaving the Yankees, for various reasons.

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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.

NEW YORK -- Bud Selig said he has not changed his opinion on expanding the use of instant replay, but baseball's commissioner left the door open a crack, saying the issue would be addressed in the offseason.

"I think there are other ways we can make corrections," Selig said. "During the offseason we'll review everything."

It could come up at the GM Meetings, Nov. 9-11 in Chicago.

The personal and professional lives of Frank and Jamie McCourt have certainly seen better days. The two had been married since 1979, having four children together. They were working together in running one of the most recognizable sports franchises in the world, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, citing irreconcilable differences, the two are going through divorce proceedings -- which appear neither friendly nor ending anytime soon.

It only took 2 1/2 years, but it was announced on Tuesday that the sale of one of baseball's most storied franchises, the Chicago Cubs, was completed. Tom Ricketts' bid to buy the team was first approved earlier this year, and now the team belongs to the son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.

Along with the team, Ricketts and his family also assume ownership of Wrigley Field and a 25 percent share of Comcast SportsNet in Chicago, which broadcasts Cubs games, along with old Tribune Company standby WGN. Once it's all said and done, the Tribune Company should pull in about $740 million from the deal, a record surpassing the $660 million John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino paid for the Red Sox in 2002.

Frank McCourt, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has dismissed wife Jamie from her post as the team's CEO ahead of what is expected to be a bitter divorce battle between the separated couple, according to a report by SI.com's Jon Heyman.

McCourt, who has been married to Jamie since 1979, purchased the Dodgers in 2004 for $430 million, but the team is believed to be worth considerably more than that.

The firing of Jamie further complicates the fate of the franchise as the couple heads for divorce court, with Frank claiming that he has full ownership of the team and his spouse contending that she owns 50 percent of it.

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One of Major League Baseball's two general manager vacancies could be filled in the next few days. The Padres appear poised to hire Red Sox assistant general manager Jed Hoyer to replace long-time GM Kevin Towers, who was fired at the beginning of October, according to multiple outlets including the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Hoyer has been a bit of a hot property for awhile now, having interviewed for GM positions with the Pirates and Nationals in recent years, but this won't be his first general managing job.

He and Ben Cherington were named co-GMs of the Red Sox in the winter of 2006 during Theo Epstein's brief hiatus from his post running the club, and most famously helped orchestrate the deal that brought Josh Beckett to Boston.

Fenway Sports Group, the sports marketing company owned by the Boston Red Sox, has expanded its media empire, entering into a sponsorship deal with Fulham FC, an English Premier League soccer club.

The company already has a number of similar partnerships in other sports, most famously with Roush Fenway Racing, the NASCAR racing team that features top drivers Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Might this be there most impressive partnership yet?

That's hard to say, but partnering with a side from the Premiership can't be a bad thing. The EPL might not register much here in the NFL-centric United States, but its the most popular and powerful professional sports league in the world, with club revenues for the 2007-08 season exceeding $3 billion.

Longtime head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Donald Fehr, will be stepping down at the conclusion of the season. When he does, he will get a severance package worth more money than he made from 2001-2008, reports are saying.

Fehr, 61, has had an annual salary of $1 million per year since 2001. His severance package will pay him $11 million when he officially retires. Considering baseball's commissioner, Bud Selig, makes $18 million a year and how much extra money Fehr has freed up for the players over the years, the figure seems more than fair.

Ned Colletti hasn't been perfect in four seasons as the Dodgers' general manager. But he promises he has learned from his mistakes.

The team announced Tuesday that Colletti had agreed to a "long-term" extension.

"I think that some of the decisions we made that didn't work out particularly well were out of impatience on our own part," Colletti said -- referring to (not by name) -- contracts for Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt and Andruw Jones. "I think the last year or so our deliberation and our thought process were keener, were a little bit more fine-tuned, were less impatient."

Instead, the Dodgers have blended acquisitions (Manny Ramirez, Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Hiroki Kuroda) with a home-grown core.