The company plans to sell the Cubs to the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade. Tribune Co. also plans to sell Wrigley Field and related properties of the club to the Ricketts family. The Cubs filed for Chapter 11 to protect the club’s new owner from any creditors of the Tribune Co. Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection in December of 2008 but did not include the Cubs at the time.

The Tribune Co. will sell 95 percent of the Cubs to the Ricketts family while keeping the remaining five percent of the franchise, which was purchased from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. in 1981 for $20.5 million. The Wrigley Co. is a candy maker. The first plans announced for the sale of the Cubs came in 2007 but the recession and the crumbling credit markets put the sale on the back burner. The deal with the Ricketts family will top the record deal of $660 million for the sale of the Boston Red Sox in 2002.

It has been reported through numerous media outlets that the fight started over some spilled beer. The bachelor party had previously been tossed from the stadium by security for getting out of control so they decided to go to McFadden’s, which has a separate entrance from the ballpark. The two groups were then tossed from the restaurant/bar too. Two men were taken into custody on Monday morning and a third is excpected to turn himself into police. The two men charged were 35-year-old Charles Bowers and 45-year-old James Groves. The third man has been identified as 28-year-old Francis Kirchner. All three men are from Philadelphia and were on the bus tour of bars in the city. The two men in custody have been charged with murder. It was reported that Sale was held down by two men while being punched and kicked repeatedly in the head and face. Even though there were roughly 25-30 involved in the fight the police rounded up around 60 people from the two groups for questioning after the incident.

Let’s begin with Ryan Dempster and the obscure injury that has forced the Cubs starting pitcher to the disabled list. Dempster injured his big right toe on Sunday when jumping over the dugout railing to celebrate his team’s win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Dempster fractured his toe and could be on the shelf for at least a month. He got his leg stuck on the railing and landed hard, causing the injury.

The injury to Dempster is a big blow to the Cubs; who activated Aramis Ramirez, Angel Guzman, and Reed Johnson from the Disabled List on Monday to help the team get just a little bit healthier. Now Dempster is in danger of missing at least three starts, maybe even five, after winning 17 games in 2008 with the Cubs.

Phillies Scout Martinez:

Not long after Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters that the team has no interest in signing Pedro Martinez the club sent scouts to watch him throw a simulated game in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.

An unnamed source from another club monitoring Martinez claims that the Phillies are more interested in the righty then they are actually letting on in the media. The Phillies were supposedly the only club present on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more on this development.

Beltran and Reyes Not Close:

The Mets received some harsh news earlier this week when they found out that injured stars Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes will not return to the lineup any time soon. Beltran will not be evaluated until after the All-Star Break and will need a rehab assignment prior to being activated from the Disabled List. On the other hand, Reyes needed a cortisone shot in his right leg Tuesday because he still felt pain. The Mets did not say what the timetable for his return would be either.

Cubs For Sale:

The Chicago Cubs, owned by the Tribune Co., received a second offer for the sale of the franchise on Tuesday. The group, run by private equity investor Marc Utay, is the second offer made to the Tribune Co. recently. The Tribune Co. now has two offers to submit to the bankruptcy court regarding their sale.

DeRosa to the D.L.:

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa from the Cleveland Indians not too long ago and have now placed the utility player on the Disabled List with a strained left wrist. DeRosa went 0-for-9 in his first three games with the RedBirds after hitting .270 with the Indians in 2009.

LaRussa Drops Twitter Lawsuit:

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa dropped all claims in a lawsuit against the social media site Twitter. The one paragraph statement also said that LaRussa was not compensated in exchange for the drop of the suit and that he cannot reopen the same suit against Twitter in the future.

The lawsuit stated that Twitter committed an alleged trademark infringement, cybersquatting, and misappropriation of his name. He accuses Twitter of posting an unauthorized page with his name on it which caused emotional distress because the page made light of his DUI charge and the recent deaths of two Cardinals pitchers.

Halladay on the Market?:

General Manager J.P. Ricciardi of the Toronto Blue Jays told the media on Tuesday that the team will listen to offers on their star pitcher. Halladay has a no-trade clause that he will have to waive if the Blue Jays wish to trade him before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.

“He’s open to at least listening,” said Ricciardi. “He’s not going to be a guy who will let you do all the work [preparing for a possible trade], and then he’s not willing to listen. If it makes sense, he will listen.”

Halladay will be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season and said he would like to stay in Toronto but it might be tough to get an extension done, causing the Jays to get as much in return for their ace as possible via a trade.

“I want to stay, but I think it’s a situation you have to evaluate,” Halladay said. “I’m really not at that situation just yet. If something does come up, you weigh your options at that point. I hate to put the cart in front of the horse and start saying ‘Do I want to do that?’ I think you just evaluate the situations when they come.”

The teams interested in Halladay are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Philadelphia Phillies, possibly the Boston Red Sox, possibly the New York Yankees, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers and maybe even the New York Mets.