FROM TIMES WIRE SERVICES
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs and their storied Wrigley Field home inched closer to finding new owners as the week ended.
Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs go hand and hand, but might be sold separately.
Tribune Co., which has not publicly set a timetable for the sale, closed the preliminary round of bidding for the baseball team, stadium and the Cubs' 25 percent stake in a regional sports cable channel on Friday.
At least seven groups submitted opening bids and a Chicago real-estate firm made an offer to buy Wrigley Field separately, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In a conflicting report, the Chicago Sun Times said 10 groups submitted bids to buy the Cubs and more than 20 made made bids on just Wrigley Field.
The Tribune Co.'s auction of the Cubs includes a plan to sell the ballpark separately. The company, which also owns the Chicago Tribune, thinks it can potentially make more money by selling the team and stadium separately.
In June, Major League Baseball, which must approve the sale of any team, sent out financial books on the three properties to preapproved bidders.
The list reportedly includes a group headed by John Canning, chairman of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC; Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; the family of online brokerage Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts; Don Levin, Chicago businessman and owner of the Chicago Wolves minor league hockey franchise; Jim Anixter, president of A-Z Industries Inc. in Northbrook who has partnered with Chicago attorney Thomas Mandler and Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., a shell company with $215 million looking to buy a sports property.
A spokeswoman for Tribune CEO Sam Zell, a real estate mogul who orchestrated last year's $8.2 billion employee buyout of Tribune, confirmed the Friday deadline. She declined further comment.
Tribune is selling the ballpark and baseball team because it needs money to pay down billions of dollars in debt related to the buyout. The company previously sold an operating interest in Long Island daily Newsday and put up other assets as collateral to raise a combined $900 million to service the debt.
Including the Cubs' 25 percent stake in a Comcast Corp. regional sports cable channel, the baseball assets could sell for as much as $1 billion, sports economists have said.
Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College who specializes in sports, said the Cubs could fetch more than the record $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox in 2002 by a group headed by billionaire commodities trader John Henry. Tribune paid $20.5 million for the team in 1981.
Tribune is expected to whittle down the proposals to three or four bidders. It will then make available to them all relevant financial information and accept new bids in a second round. The final sale must be approved by three-quarters of MLB owners.
POOL INJURY SIDELINES BARTON
Daric Barton smacked his head on the bottom of a pool during the All-Star break, requiring six staples to close the gash and leaving the Oakland first baseman with a neck strain that landed him on the disabled list Saturday.
Barton was placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 14. The Athletics recalled infielder Wes Bankston from Triple-A Sacramento and started him at first base against the New York Yankees.
Barton said he was at a friend's apartment back home in California when he dove into a pool Sunday night. He didn't realize how shallow it was, and he hit his head on the bottom. He never lost consciousness, but blood began gushing down his face and Barton went to the emergency room.
"As soon as I did it I was kind of in shock," he said.
Doctors sealed the cut with six staples that are clearly visible atop Barton's head. He is slated to have the staples removed on Wednesday and hopes to be back on the field for workouts within a week.
"My head's fine. I jarred my neck a little bit," he said. "Left side is pretty good, it's just the right side. I can't move to the right pretty much."
Barton is batting .224 with three homers and 25 RBIs.
OSWALT GOES ON DL
Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a strained hip and a herniated disk in his back.
Oswalt (7-8, 4.56 ERA) underwent an MRI exam on Saturday that confirmed a strained left hip abductor and also revealed the disk problem. But manager Cecil Cooper said Oswalt should be ready to start again on July 28 for the opener of a three-game series with Cincinnati.
"It just got to the point where he couldn't really throw off a mound," Cooper said. "We're going to try to get him on the mound a couple of times before his start."
The Astros will recall Runelvys Hernandez from Triple-A Round Rock to fill Oswalt's roster spot. Hernandez, 0-3 in three starts for Houston this season, will start Monday's game against Pittsburgh.
Oswalt injured his hip in the sixth inning of his June 30 start against Los Angeles. He re-aggravated the injury in his next start on July 11, leaving the game after throwing only 17 pitches against Washington.
MARTINEZ MAY SKIP PHILLIES
The New York Mets are having second thoughts about letting right-hander Pedro Martinez face the Philadelphia Phillies next week.
Martinez got a cortisone shot for strained groin muscles on Thursday. He was en route to Cincinnati from New York on Saturday afternoon, and planned to throw in the bullpen during a game against the Cincinnati Reds to see how he felt.
Manager Jerry Manuel originally planned to let the 36-year-old pitcher face the Phillies on Tuesday, the first game of their series at Shea Stadium, if he didn't have any discomfort during his bullpen session. On Saturday, Manuel said Martinez might be held back until next weekend even if he feels good.
"We're kind of vacillating on Tuesday," Manuel said.
Martinez strained his groin while running the bases on July 7. Five days later, he left his start against Colorado after only four innings because of tightness in his shoulder — he assumed he had changed his delivery to compensate for the groin injury.
Manuel said there's no thought of putting Martinez on the disabled list. If he doesn't open the series against the Phillies, he could pitch the following weekend against St. Louis
