SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -The sale of the Chicago Cubs does not appear to be imminent.
Prospective buyers have been submitting to background checks, but Major League Baseball’s ownership committee has not been given a formal financial offer to review.
“There is no formal timetable for a sale,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said during a two-day owners’ meeting that ended Thursday.
Tribune Co. said last month it anticipated closing on the Cubs sale by mid-2008. Analysts have said the Cubs could fetch as much as $1 billion if packaged with Wrigley Field.
DuPuy also briefed owners on the status of a proposed stadium for the Florida Marlins.
Miami-Dade County commissioners last month approved a public works project that includes a new 37,000-seat retractable-roof stadium. The ballpark would be built on the site of the Orange Bowl as part of an agreement that would include a performing arts center, port tunnel project and soccer stadium.
Meanwhile, commissioner Bud Selig created a committee, to be chaired by Atlanta president John Schuerholz, to look at possible changes in the amateur draft.
Also Thursday, owners approved a series of minor rules changes involving player movement.
In a new exception to Major League Rule 16, a player may be added to a major league roster after Aug. 1 if he is reinstated from a suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy, according to Joe Garagiola Jr., baseball’s senior vice president for baseball operations. The existing exception allows players who have been on the bereavement list to rejoin their clubs after Aug. 1.
Owners changed Rule 11(b) to allow a player who has been optioned to the minors to return to the big-league club in fewer than 10 days if he is replacing a player who has been suspended for violating drug policy. Under most circumstances, an optioned player can’t be recalled for 10 days.
Owners also changed Rule 51 to allow players to spend three years at the same rookie level, instead of two.
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