The Tribune Company is apparently so unhappy with the slow pace of the negotiations to sell the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts family, that they have reopened negotiations with another interested party. 

The other interested party was one of the original bidders that lost out to the Ricketts in the bidding auction for the Cubs baseball team that took place last year. This report was according to two sources that are acquainted with the process of the sale.

The parent company of the Chicago Tribune has approached a group led by Marc Utay, who grew up in Glenview and attended New Trier West High School and is currently the managing partner of a New York based private-equity firm. Utay's group of investors, which also includes Leo Hindery who is another private-equity investor, was one of the three finalists in the initial bidding for the Cubs.

Upon release of the possible talks concerning this new development, Utay declined to make a comment. Reuters was the first news outlet that reported the talks between the Tribune Company and Utay.

When approached, Gary Weitman, a Tribune Co. representative, said that the media company is "assessing other alternatives" but he would not confirm one way or the other if in fact they were talking again with the Utay group. He also commented that the Tribune Company continues to have "an active dialogue with the Ricketts family with an eye toward reaching a definitive agreement. Our goal and responsibility is to pursue a transaction that is in the best interest of the company. We won't comment on specifics of any potential transaction."

Tom Ricketts, a Wilmette investment banker, is leading the Ricketts family's pursuit of the Cubs. Dennis Culloton, a representative for the Ricketts family, verified that the family continues to be in discussions with the Tribune Co. concerning the sale of the Cubs and that "things are moving very positively." Culloton, when notified of the possible talks going on between the Tribune and Utay’s group, declined to comment on the discussions.

After almost two years since the Tribune Co. announced that it was selling the team, they announced that the Ricketts family was the winning bidder. Wrigley Field along with a 25 percent stake in Comcast Sports-Net Chicago, which is a regional cable sports network, is also included in the deal. Last year's Tribune Companies bankruptcy filing in December along with the overall financial situation in the country had a lot to do with the prolonged auction for the top bidder.

However, since the two sides entered into exclusive negotiations in January, they have been unable to reach a conclusive agreement. As the credit markets in the country have tightened, the Ricketts family has had numerous problems raising debt in order to finance the purchase of the Cubs.

Talks also hit a wall over the actual value of the Cubs broadcast rights. The Tribune Company owns those rights as well because of its ownership of the WGN-Ch. 9 television network, WGN radio and Comcast Sports Net.

After research on the broadcast rights, the Ricketts family wanted to reduce the price of its original $900 million bid by $40 million to $50 million. The numbers that the Ricketts family came up with concerning the broadcast rights did not match up with those supplied by the Tribune Company. The values of those rights are not actually worth what the Tribune Company originally said they were.

The deal is also complicated by the fact that the Tribune Company has a desire to retain a small amount of ownership of the Cubs for tax purposes even after the sale. The Ricketts family does not want the Tribune Company to be involved in the Cubs what so ever after the sale is completed. 

Frustrations at this point have boiled over the top. Both the tribune Company and the Ricketts family have complained to Major League Baseball about the problems and the difficulty they are having in dealing with each other.

While there has been no forewarning of the deal potentially falling apart, Major League Baseball has indicated that, at times, both sides have talked about the difficulties they have had dealing with the other side.

At this point, you have wonder if the announcement by the Tribune Company of the sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts may have been a bit premature. The two sides have not been able to finalize the deal, as there is always something that continues to pull them apart.

The one person who is at odds over the whole situation is major league baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. 

With both sides seemingly at each other throats over the structure of a deal that in principle was reached five months ago, Selig has got to be close to losing it all together. Give him a bat and a Gatorade machine and let him at it. Carlos Zambrano would be proud.

Selig is in communication with both the Zell and Ricketts camps on a frequent basis, and he is constantly hearing each of their sides of the stalemate that has prevented the deal from being sent to Major League Baseball's 29 owners for approval. It is easy to conceive a vision of fire and brimstone coming out of Selig's ears after he hangs up the phone. He has to be extremely upset and angry with the fact that one of his premier franchises in the Cubs continues to remain in such a blundering state of uncertainty.

I imagine that you could make a mental picture of Selig grabbing something off of his desk and just flinging it against the wall of his Milwaukee high-rise apartment complex. Selig has declined to speak to the media on the subject. However, it is pretty clear that he wants the situation resolved, and he wants it resolved sooner rather than later.

Selig wanted this deal to be completed in 2007. He would have been satisfied if it could have been settled in 2008. Moreover, not long ago, he was assured that the deal would be completed by Opening Day of this year’s season.

However, here it is June and there is no end is in site. No one seems to know when it will be completed or at this point, if it ever will happen between the Tribune and the Ricketts Family. Now with some underhandedness going on and the Tribune Company talking with the Utay group, I guess anything is possible.

The worst part of all of this is how it actually may affect the Cubs. Without knowing the outcome of the deal soon, this could leave the hands of Cubs general manager Jim Hendry tied behind his back when the July 31 trade deadline rolls around.

Let us just all hope that the deal takes less time to be finalized and approved by MLB then it has since the Cubs last won a championship.