MLB

Lefty Rich Hill showed promise in 2007 when he went 11-8 for the Cubs, helping them reach the playoffs, before suffering a bout of "Steve Blass Disease" at the beginning of the '08 season, in which he inexplicably couldn’t find the plate. He has never been the same since. Reliever Michael Wuertz, on the other hand, has always sucked. Both were shown the door on Monday, as the Cubs traded Hill to Andy MacPhail's, "Former Cubs Rehabilitation Project" in Baltimore, and Wuertz was sent to Oakland for two minor league stiffs.

DALLAS — Free-agent pitcher Ben Sheets was rumored to have been renting a car at the DFW Airport on Tuesday.

In an effort to outshine media hype surrounding the NHL Winter Classic on the North Side, White Sox officials proudly announced U.S. Cellular Field will host this year's Winter Classic Demolition Derby.

"People need to understand that we have to undo decades of damage left behind by mismanagement and gross negligence," said Ricketts. "We might lose 500 games over our first five years. I want fans to know that it's not going to be pretty for a while."

The long-awaited sale of the Cubs is nearing an end as the Ricketts family has been selected as the final bidder by the Tribune Company, which will end the newspaper company's 27-year championship-free reign that saw the North Side's losers only get more lovable. Insiders estimate the purchase price is just under $900 million, about $880 million more than the Tribune paid for the team in 1981.

While Cubs fans were shoveling in negative temperatures or rubbing elbows with Mike Fontenot at the Cubs Convention, the White Sox signed a combined 525 pounds of pitching, avoiding arbitration with closer Bobby Jenks while inking Bartolo Colon to a one-year, incentive-laden deal.

The 2009 Cubs Convention got off to a rough start for Cubs play-by-play television broadcaster Len Kasper. He was spotted Friday morning at Kitty O'Sheas, drunker than a loon after finishing off his second bottle of Wild Turkey.