Another update on the Cubs sale:

Chicago Cubs buyer Tom Ricketts is close to lining up three banks to arrange the $450 million financing necessary to complete his acquisition of the team, financial sources said, positioning him to clear a substantial hurdle in the long-running sale of the club.

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America are set to commit to the deal as soon as the end of this week, the sources said. That commitment would allow Ricketts to submit his $900 million bid to the court that’s overseeing the bankruptcy filing of current Cubs owner Tribune Co. The court likely then would take 30 to 45 days to process the offer, one source said, leaving a potential closing ready by July.

MLB at that point could wait until its August owners meeting to approve the deal or could call a special owners meeting to address the sale earlier.

An interesting decision coming up when ARam comes back -- one of Freel, Miles or Scales has to go, barring another injury on the team in the interim. Freel and Miles are making real money so the traditional choice would be Scales but, while I'm sure he loves hearing this, now that he's got some "proven" MLB track record, I'm not sure he'll make it through waivers. (Also he has to be better than Miles but I'm not making the decision, they guy who gave Miles a 2-year contract is.)

Of course Freel doesn't cost much and could probably be swapped somewhere. Or Freel back to the DL is a real possibility.

On Fontenot, everything is there except for the BA. Given his K-rate, he wasn't likely to hit 300 over the long haul but his BABIP right now is at 213. He'll bounce back. (Note, I was never convinced he could be a full-time starter and he has yet to hit LHP.)

Harden now has the worst ERA+ among the starters -- go figure. The HRs keep coming (and too many walks). Maybe time for a brief rest on the DL when Z is back. Walks and HR are really plaguing the staff this year. 10th in the league in walks at 4 per game (are walks up this year?) and giving up nearly 1 HR per 7 IP as a staff (15th). Hopefully Marmol's wild streak is finished but so far Guzman's the only reliever not walking everyone in sight. The bullpen is still a real issue.

Does Scales have to clear waivers? He's never been up before, so wouldn't he have option years still? I'm pretty sure they can send him down without a problem. Unfortunately, I think that's what would happen if ARam were coming back today. If in another month Scales is still hitting and Miles still isn't, I'm sure Lou will keep Scales.

But there's also a decision to make in the pitching staff, and that's going to happen this week. They like Wells and there's been rumors of him staying in the rotation and Marshall going back to the pen (I'd assume that would mean Cotts is gone). Patton could also be shown the door, but I think the Cubs have a longer term plan with him and he'll stick around to be the mop up guy. Ascanio could also be sent back down, but I think he's the one guy with potential that could really help the team this season.

i really hope they keep scales around just to see what he can do, maybe flip him at the deadline but at least lets give this guy a shot, dump miles instead

Honestly, with all of the injuries, and Milton Bradley's nonsense, I see this season so far going from completely frustrating to one of some arched eyebrow optimism. This statement would shock my girlfriend if she had time to read my musings here. I think there is some flexibility to play around with the roster given the acquisition of Freel, and my mancrush Bobby Scales playing well thus far (christ how can you not root for that guy). I see Miles as the odd guy out if Scales still shows any sign of being able to hit. The Cubs haven't blanched at eating a deal very often. I feel like the bullpen is still sorting itself out, though I didn't think it would take into June for that to happen. Kevin Gregg sucks on toast.

Oh, and I also think Ascanio is a bright spot, or possible bright spot as the season evolves.

Milwaukee isn't going away, but if the Cubs keep them close I like their chances.

Does Scales have to clear waivers? He's never been up before, so wouldn't he have option years still?

That's not how options work. In any season, if at any point a player is on the 40-man roster but not the 25-man roster (or the major-league DL), an option is used up. The "option" is to keep him in the minors but on the 40-man, not promote him to the majors. I'm assuming (but don't know) that Scales has made some team's 40-man roster at least 3 times in his many, many years in the minors. It's possible that nobody thought he was worth a 40-man but he did spend 7 years in the Padres' system which either means his options are burned up or he was so little thought of, he never even got drafted in the rule 5.

There are heaps of exceptions and scenarios (and they've changed over the years) but the typical life of a draftee goes like this:

A team can keep you up to 3 years without risk of losing you
After those 3 years, they either have to add you to the 40-man roster or make you eligible in the rule 5 draft.
Each year you are on the 40-man but not the 25-man (at any point in the season), they must use an option on you and they have 3 options.
Once all the options are used up and you're still not on the 25-man roster, you become a minor-league FA.

I just wanted all of you to know I figured out how to post on my blackberry... Beware.

It's possible that nobody thought he was worth a 40-man but he did spend 7 years in the Padres' system which either means his options are burned up or he was so little thought of, he never even got drafted in the rule 5.

He's not listed as being optioned in 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2005 in the Padres transactions on mlb.com, but those aren't the most complete. It looks to me like he has 3 options left.

Well, he left the Padres through minor-league free agency which means he wasn't on the 40-man at the end of his 7th season (or so wiki tells me) so maybe he does have options left. On the other hand, I couldn't find anything saying he'd been available in the rule 5 draft in those years (but not like google's very good for that sort of thing).

Of course having options left makes it much more likely he'll be the one sent down.

Mark DeRosa: .242/.313/.416
Mike Fontenot: .204/.307/.380
Aaron Miles: .217/.270/.289

I think it was last week in which I wrote that I thought Soto was coming around and this week he had an even better week but now I am a little bit concerned about how he is doing it. He is hitting at home and he isn't hitting at all on the road. Hopefully that is just a small sample size issue and nothing more. It is either that or it is a quality of competition problem.

Bradley has only played twice in the 7 days which is obviously problematic since the Cubs are so thin. On another note DLee has only played 4 games in the last 14 days.

It will be interesting to see what Lou does with Hoff/Bradley/Lee.

Soriano is still on a 50+ homer pace and is still on pace to have his best Cubs season and possibly best season of his career if his recent performances lasts a bit longer.

The bullpen is a mess but I think it is slowly coming together and I think by July or so it should be all right and I'm thinking Hendry will make a move to get someone. The question is who will they get and what will they give up. Will it be Hoff since Fox is sitting in the minors?

The Indians are now actively shopping DeRosa, per rotoworld.

With the emergence of Scales and the acquisition of Freel, not sure we really need DeRosa as much as we did in April, but if there were a way to get rid of Miles our bench would look a LOT better with or without the reacquisition of DeRosa.

I just wanted all of you to know I figured out how to post on my blackberry... Beware.

How in the hell do you type better on your blackberry than you do on your computer.

Some interesting tidbits in this article today.

1. Lou said his contingency plan for Fontentot's continued sucking would be moving Soriano to 2nd and Hoffpauir to left. I'd love the effect that would have on the offense, but the defense would take a big hit.
2. Some quick and dirty stats for the 3 guys we got for DeRosa.
3. No word on who is going down for Z to start today (not in that article anyway). Anyone know?