Mark Cuban may buy the Cubs afterall

According to reports, Mark Cuban, the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has submitted his name to a lengthy list of possible suitors to buy the Chicago Cubs.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Mark Cuban says that he has submitted his application to Major League Baseball to purchase the Cubs. Cuban, who has owned the NBA's Dallas Mavericks since January of 2000 and is known for his free-spending ways, told the newspaper he sent the paperwork in last week.

Cuban's efforts to enter the already crowded field to purchase the team is being met with some speculation. The Tribune summed up Cuban's efforts to buy the team in its Thursday edition as follows: "And while Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has expressed interest, most observers think Major League Baseball would balk at a potential owner as unpredictable and outspoken as Cuban."

Cuban has been one of the most charismatic owner's the NBA has seen and if he were to buy the Cubs' he would bring that same element to the MLB. Cuban is never shy about letting his feelings be known and isn't afraid to tell the commissioner that he thinks he's wrong. As I'm sure David Stern knows all to well. The move would be great for the Cub's as well, he's the type of owner that will stop at nothing to win, and that means he's willing to spend money and he usually spends it well. This should get interesting very soon, to see if he's approved and how he goes about handling the MLB.

Alex Rodriguez is going to be very rich soon, I mean even richer

BREAKING NEWS:

Early reports are that Alex Rodriguez could be making $30 million a YEAR! That is just plain insane. Just for a little comparison, Rodriguez (according to ESPN) is making $27,708,525 this season and that already exceeds the Tampa Bay Devil Rays which their total salary is $24,124,200. And if he makes the reported $3o million then he will likely surpass the Florida Marlins which are currently at $30,507,000 next season.

UPDATE: Ok, well now I have a link to the reports. According to this, Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras said his client will get a minimum of $32 million or they will walk. And that they refuse to negotiate till after the season is over.

Even if his client doesn't go the opt-out route, Boras told the Post that there are existing stipulations in the current deal that all but guarantee Rodriguez would earn a minimum of $32 million in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

"The way the provision operates, he either gets that or he can become a free agent after any of those seasons again," Boras told the newspaper.

To keep the theme going...Hafner gets a new deal

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Cleveland Indians and designated hitter, Travis Hafner have agreed on a four-year $57 million contract extension.

"Hafner, 30, was eligible for free agency after the 2008 season. His new deal does not include a signing bonus, but part of the money will be redirected to increase his salaries in 2007 and '08, according to a source with knowledge of the contract.

The Indians are paying Hafner $3.75 million this season and hold a $4.75 million club option on him for 2008 — low salaries for a player who last season ranked first in the American League in on-base/slugging percentage."

Hafner has been having a bit of a down season this year, as he is only hitting .262 with 14 homeruns and 57 RBI's, but that didn't deture the Indians from locking the very talented slugger until 2012. Hopefully now that he doesn't have to worry whether or not he will be re-signed, Hafner will start to play like last season.

Alex Rodriguez getting a new deal?

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the New York Yankees are now willing to work with Alex Rodriguez on a new contract extension. They had previously said that they didn't want to right now. I guess the odds that Rodriguez will stay rather then opt out of his deal and become a free-agent at the end of this year are heightened.

"The Yankees have changed their traditional stance and are now willing to negotiate during the season with their star third baseman on a contract extension, MLB sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

The key sticking point for the Yankees in the prospective negotiations is that Rodriguez agree not to opt out of his current contract after this season and agree to add any extension to the current contract, which expires after the 2010 season."

The Yankees still have players like Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada that will be looking for a new deal, both players will be free-agents at the end of the season. I know the Yanks will not let Rivera go, but Posada, I don't know.

Buster Olney also said that the Yankees are going to basically give Alex Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras a blank check.

Verlander one ups Schilling...pitches a no-hitter

This is definitely BREAKING NEWS! Justin Verlander just threw a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. Verlander was cool and collected through nine innings, and that was evident when he hit 102 on the radar guns and then came right back at Brew Crew with a nasty curveball. Verlander only needed 112 pitches to complete the no-no and he also added a career high, 12 strikeouts to go along with four walks, three of which was too Bill Hall.

It was just a few days ago, when Boston Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling just missed having a no-hitter when Shannon Stewart broke it up in the ninth inning with a two-out single. But I can tell you one thing, he sure as hell wasn't hitting 102 on the gun. That's almost Zumaya territory.

Verlander, 24, became the second pitcher this season to accomplish the feat and the first Tiger since Jack Morris on April 7, 1984. Mark Burlehe threw one for the Chicago White Sox on April 18 against the Texas Rangers.

Breaking news: Curt Schilling flirts with no-hitter

The Boston Red Sox, Curt Schilling, flirted with history but came up short in the ninth with two outs before giving up a hard hit single to the Oakland A's leftfielder, Shannon Stewart. Schilling lost a perfect game back in the fifth inning, when Julio Lugo botched a lazy ground ball from Dan Johnson. So Schilling failed to get what would've been his first career no-hitter, but in hindsight the Red Sox did win the game, 1-0.

Another side note on Schilling's day to show how dominating he was, he pitched a complete game, one hitter and only had to throw 100 pitches, very impressive.

Breaking News: Orlando may still be looking for a head coach

Ryan Ferguson over at the Fanhouse just broke HUGE news, according to Fox Sports and ESPN, after being announced as the new head coach of the Orlando Magic just two days ago, Billy Donovan already wants out of his contract.

According to two sources close to the situation, the former Florida coach, who accepted the Orlando Magic job on Friday, is attempting to return to Gainesville.

Donovan agreed to a five-year, $27.5 million contract with the Magic late last week, but has approached both sides about getting out of the deal.

According to one source, Donovan was forced to make a rash decision by the Magic management — and he regretted it shortly after agreeing to the contract.

I'm shocked by this news, it really seemed like Donovan was prepared to move on to the next step, but I guess not. I don't really know what is left for him to do at Florida, his legacy is already etched in stone after becoming the first coach to lead his team to back-to-back National Championships since Duke did it in the early nineties. And then take into consideration that he has no returning starters from those great teams, it's going to be awfully difficult to keep the Gators in the top echelon of college basketball.

Is he backing out because of the pressure to be successful? Maybe. There is always immense pressure put on coaches that leave college for the pros, it doesn't matter what the sport is, football or basketball. But it's not like the Magic expect Donovan to turn this one and done team into a championship caliber team, at least not right now. He has a lot of great young players that are still developing, guys like Dwight Howard(who is already a bonafide star), Jameer Nelson, J.J. Reddick, Trevor Ariza, Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo so it's not like he's taking over the Spurs as Davey put it. I don't know, I guess we're going to have to wait see how this one plays out.

I think it's safe to say, they might want to take this down.


EDIT: Earlier I said that all five starters from last year's championship team have entered the draft, well they haven't, only four of the five are currently listed at ESPN.com(Horford, Green, Brewer and Noah). Lee Humphrey isn't mentioned although he was a senior.