Will the Cubs Have a New Owner by Opening Day?

It seems, at this point, that the Cubs sale has been going on for years. Last year, when the Cubs came under profit-motivated hands of Sam Zell, new ownership was promised pronto. No one thought it would happen overnight, but jeez -- could it happen this decade?

Last Friday was supposed to be the final day to submit bids for the Cubs, but it was extended in the hopes that bidders would revise and raise their final offers. So we still don't know who is going to be owning the team, let alone when it can officially change hands. The AP is reporting that Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney thinks the sale can be finalized -- like, actually finalized -- by Opening Day, but he doesn't seem sure:

“I think if we could get some assistance with the commissioner, there’s a vetting with the ownership committee, and then there would be a full vetting with the ownership groups,” Kenney said as he arrived for a meeting of major league owners at a mountainside resort. “But I think everyone wants this thing to come to a conclusion, including the commissioner. So if we can get a little assistance there, we can maybe get there by April.”

Not exactly a hard-and-fast deadline, huh?

Fortunately, the Cubs sale doesn't seem to be affecting the way the team is managing their payroll year-over-year; Hendry is going to be spending a bit more on salaries this year than he did last year. It's not life-and-death, the sale's date, but it sure would be nice to finish this thing. It's been long enough already.