Cuban Believes He Has A Shot To Acquire Cubs From Tribune Co.

Cuban Thinks He Has Shot At Buying Cubs

LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR: With Tribune Co. considering selling Wrigley Field separately from the Cubs, Cuban said he "definitely would want Wrigley Field to be part of the deal because you have to protect the experience." Cuban: "It'd be important to me to own Wrigley because you want to protect Wrigley." Cuban added the previous Cubs owners and the "Wrigleyville area around Wrigley Field didn't always get along so well and so I think there are a lot of things we can do community-wise that can enhance my chances" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/7). Cuban, in a Q&A with the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES' Elliott Harris, when asked if buying the Cubs without Wrigley "make[s] any sense," said, "Nope. Not in any way, shape or form. There's multiple elements. One, the Cubs' performance as a baseball team is one thing; the Cubs' participation as part of the community is just as important. When someone else buys it, there's a completely different obligation." Cuban added, "You've got to be able to make it clear that you're going to be a very good citizen to your fellow Wrigleyites and that their future goes hand-in-hand with the future of Wrigley and the Cubs. You've got to be able to communicate with them. If you don't own Wrigley, you can't do that" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/10).

DON'T TIP THE BOAT OVER: ESPN.com's Buster Olney wrote of Cuban's potential acquisition of the Cubs, "If [MLB] owners ever considered allowing Cuban into their club, they would have to receive a whole lot of assurances that he would not be a chronic boat-rocker. The sport is thriving financially, they're all doing very well and the last thing they need is another owner to come on board and shake things up" (ESPN.com, 6/7).

LEAKING ONTO THE FIELD: ESPN's Peter Gammons reported the Cubs are looking to acquire starting pitching, and with "the team being sold in the next few months, they don't know whether the ownership will allow them to take on a guy like (Royals P) Gil Meche, who has three more years on his contract. That is kind of uncertain" ("Baseball Tonight," ESPN, 6/8).

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