Obsessive New Ownerwatch: MLB Peeved at Slow Pace

We’ve all accepted the fact that the Cubs sale is not going to be finalized any time soon. But it sounds like MLB is none too pleased about that fact.

A highly placed MLB source said Wednesday that the slow pace has been due to the ongoing negotiations between Ricketts and Zell, as well as between Ricketts and the banks, not any red tape on MLB’s end.

“It’s not even on our desk,” the MLB source said. “We can’t do anything until we have it. We wish we had it already.” chicagotribune.com.

As you’ll recall, the slow pace of the deal is driven in tandem by the frosty availability of credit, and the Tribune’s insistence that purchaser Tom Ricketts finance the majority of the deal (so that it can avoid some of the adverse tax consequences of its tremendous capital gain on the team).

You wonder if the announcement of the sale to Ricketts may have been premature. The sides haven’t been able to finalize the deal. While there have been no indications of the deal potentially falling apart, the MLB source indicated that, at times, both sides have spoken about difficulties dealing with the other side.

“We still think this deal is going to work,” the source said. “That’s what we keep being told. We just don’t know when. We really do not know what the timing is going to be.”

Yes, I can read, and I know it says there are not yet any indications that the deal could fall apart… but it’s no consolation that a statement like that even has to be made.

How long would things have to be prolonged before that is precisely the fear?