This isn't linked yet on the Cubs website, but here is the info from an upcoming press release:

The Chicago Cubs today announced television play-by-play broadcaster Len Kasper has received a contract extension through the 2011 season.

"I am thrilled to extend what has been, for me, an incredible relationship with the Cubs, WGN, Comcast SportsNet and my partner Bob Brenly," said Kasper. "It is an honor to announce games with Bob for the greatest fans in sports and I look forward to calling many exciting Cubs' seasons to come. My family and I are very proud to call Chicago our home and there's no better place to broadcast big league baseball than Wrigley Field."

Kasper, 37, in 2009 enters his fifth season doing play-by-play for Cubs television broadcasts. He joined the Cubs in 2005 after three seasons of television play-by-play for the Florida Marlins from 2002-04.

"Len has emerged as an industry star and we’re excited about having him and Bob Brenly in the Cubs broadcast booth for years to come," said Mike Lufrano, Cubs senior vice president. "Our thanks also to WGN for helping keep together one of the best broadcast teams in baseball. Len and Bob have done a tremendous job broadcasting Cubs games and have become major participants in the Chicago community as well. We're eager to see their partnership continue to grow in the years ahead."

I think this is great. I enjoy Len & Bob and I think they have, over the four years they have been together, meshed into an excellent broadcast team. At 37, Len could be the voice of the Cubs for decades to come. We're lucky to have him.

Offseason player movement, up to now reeeealllly slow, started to pick up yesterday with a few minor transactions (and two more that are about to happen).

Transaction: Mike Hampton signs a one-year, $2 million deal with the Astros

Comment: Hampton played for Houston a zillion years ago; he had a great year there in 1999, which helped get him his huge free-agent deal after he spent 2000 with the Mets. Among his teammates his last year in Houston were Paul Bako, Daryle Ward and Ken Caminiti. Hampton's 36 and likely on the decline; it costs the Astros little, and that's probably what they'll get.

Transaction: Russell Branyan signs a one-year deal with the Mariners

Comment: If some team had just installed Branyan at DH 7 or 8 years ago, he might have put up a couple of 50-homer seasons. He has hit a HR about every 15 AB in his career, 133 in 2000 AB. He strikes out a ton, which is why most teams won't touch him. He might do OK in Seattle, especially if they DH him part of the time.

Transaction: Cardinals sign LHP Trever Miller to a one-year deal that could be worth $2 million with incentives

Comment: Yawn. Miller has a career ERA of 4.43 and a career WHIP of 1.499. He'll be 36 in May.

Transaction: Cardinals to acquire Khalil Greene for two minor league pitchers

Comment: This one isn't official yet, but apparently will be today. Double yawn. I know a lot of people here salivated after Greene, but he had a really bad year last year before being shut down after July. He's 29 years old and isn't going to be getting any better.

Transaction: Giants to sign SS Edgar Renteria as a free agent

Comment: Another one that isn't quite done yet, but supposedly will happen. What is with the Giants' fetish with older, declining players? Five years ago, acquiring Renteria might have been a good idea. Now -- why bother?

From a Cubs press release today:

The Chicago Cubs today agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Chad Fox on a 2009 minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to major league Spring Training.

The only question I have is, why? Fox is 38 and has thrown 22 major league innings since 2003. They can't possibly think he could help the bullpen in 2009, can they? Maybe he inherited the collection of Compromising Photos Of Lou Piniella.

UPDATE: The Cubs have officially released the spring schedule as of today, Wednesday, December 3; there were three differences between the schedule I posted on November 25 and the one made official today:

• There's an additional split-squad game on March 13 vs. the Angels at Tempe.
• The game vs. the Padres on March 20 is at Mesa, not Peoria.
• The game vs. the Giants at Scottsdale on March 26 starts at 9:35 CT, not 9:05.

The above changes are reflected in the correct schedule, posted below.

Tickets go on sale online or by phone (1-800-905-3315) on Tuesday, January 6 at 10 am CST, or at the HoHoKam Park box office on Tuesday, January 13 at 9 am MST.

Note: Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday 3/8. Prior to 3/8 all games begin at 2:05 CT; on 3/8 and after, games begin at 3:05 CT. Exceptions are noted.

Wed 2/25: vs. Dodgers at Mesa
Thu 2/26: vs. Brewers at Mesa
Fri 2/27: vs. Rangers at Surprise
Sat 2/28: vs. White Sox at Mesa
Sun 3/1: vs. Padres at Peoria
Mon 3/2: vs. Diamondbacks at Mesa
Tue 3/3: vs. Athletics at Mesa
Wed 3/4: vs. Indians at Goodyear
Thu 3/5: OFF
Fri 3/6: vs. Dodgers at Mesa
Sat 3/7: vs. Brewers at Maryvale
Sun 3/8: vs. Rangers at Mesa
Mon 3/9: vs. Royals at Mesa
Tue 3/10: vs. Mariners at Peoria
Wed 3/11: OFF
Thu 3/12: vs. WBC at Mesa
Fri 3/13: vs. Mariners (ss) at Mesa
          vs. Angels (ss) at Tempe
Sat 3/14: vs. Angels at Mesa
Sun 3/15: vs. Diamondbacks at Tucson
Mon 3/16: vs. Brewers at Maryvale
Tue 3/17: vs. Dodgers at Glendale
Wed 3/18: vs. Giants at Mesa
Thu 3/19: vs. Mariners (ss) at Peoria
Fri 3/20: vs. Padres at Mesa
Sat 3/21: vs. White Sox at Glendale
Sun 3/22: vs. Mariners at Mesa
Mon 3/23: vs. Athletics at Phoenix
Tue 3/24: vs. Rockies at Mesa
Wed 3/25: OFF
Thu 3/26: vs. Giants at Scottsdale (9:35 CT)
Fri 3/27: vs. White Sox at Mesa
Sat 3/28: vs. Rockies at Tucson
Sun 3/29: vs. Indians at Mesa
Mon 3/30: vs. Royals at Surprise
Tue 3/31: vs. Angels at Mesa
Wed 4/1: vs. Athletics at Phoenix
Thu 4/2: vs. Indians at Mesa (2:05 CT)
Fri 4/3: vs. Yankees at Yankee Stadium, NYC (6:05 CT)
Sat 4/4: vs. Yankees at Yankee Stadium, NYC (12:05 CT)

Most interesting notes: the schedule is a week longer this year to take into account the WBC. The 36 games (including the two in NY) is, I believe, the most ever. Note the three off days, two more than usual. Finally, the Cubs will have only one split-squad game in 2009, down from the usual two or three. This is probably due to the length of the spring season and the larger number of teams available to play.

I have never professed to be an expert in baseball financial matters. But there is a clue in Jeff Passan's arbitration roundup at Yahoo that may give some insight into why the Cubs didn't offer arbitration to Kerry Wood (or, for that matter, to any of their other compensation-eligible free agents):

OK, so Arizona doesn’t want to get stuck with Adam Dunn next season at the $15 million or so he’d get through arbitration. Fine. It’s a short-sighted maneuver not to offer arbitration – he’s bound to get a multi-year deal somewhere – but with the Diamondbacks offering arbitration to Orlando Hudson, Juan Cruz and Brandon Lyon, one scouting director wondered whether it was to avoid a glut of draft choices and the signing bonuses that accompany them.

While two sources dismissed the idea, one pointed out that with Dunn, Hudson and Cruz all Type A players likely to sign elsewhere, it would have left the Diamondbacks with seven high picks, including their own first-rounder, and eight if Lyon doesn’t accept arbitration. According to Baseball America, Arizona spent only $4.49 million on its draft choices last season, the seventh-lowest number in the game.

Now, you'll remember that the Cubs were fined $500,000 last summer for some shenanigans regarding signing certain players above slot recommendations and not reporting those signings on a timely basis. Based on that, perhaps the paradoxical idea that the Cubs wouldn't want the extra draft picks because of the extra money they might cost actually makes some sense. On the other hand, none of this means that the Cubs and Kerry Wood might not still come to agreement on a one year-deal, especially since in the present market, that multi-year contract Jim Hendry told Wood to go out and get might not exist.

We are living in a very different economy, as Passan points out:

Now, though, with advertising reps reporting back to their bosses that sales are hard to come by and teams cringing at the notion of fans’ disposable income shriveling like a raisin, arbitration is a risk. In the process, the team and player either come to an agreed-upon salary – usually more than the previous season – or each side picks a number and allows an impartial arbitrator to choose the player’s salary.

So the idea that the Cubs may want to pare any further payroll increases down -- including the possibility that Jake Peavy's deal isn't affordable financially, never mind the players that might have to be given up -- has less to do with who becomes the new owner of the team and more to do with the shrinking number of advertising dollars that may be coming in for the 2009 season. It's the first week of December, the time when season ticket invoices usually arrive for those of us who have season tickets. We've seen nothing yet, nor any hint (beyond an offhand comment from Jim Hendry on the Score last week that some prices may go up while most stay the same) of what ticket prices will be in 2009.

This isn't just a Cub issue, either. Here's a list of all the free agents this offseason. Only three of them have signed so far: Ryan Dempster re-upped with the Cubs for about market rate; Doug Brocail stayed with his old team, the Astros, also for a reasonable deal; and Jeremy Affeldt, the only one so far to change teams, signed with the Giants for a fairly "modest" $8 million for two years. And of 60 Type A or B free agents, fewer than half -- only 24 -- were offered arbitration. We may all have to adjust our thinking about what the Cubs -- or ANY team -- can and will afford to acquire, either by trade or free agency, this offseason. As Passan points out:

[Bobby] Abreu, for example, made $16 million last season. Though his numbers have declined, he would stand to make about $17 million through arbitration. And while that was a fair amount in the past, even New York couldn’t stomach it this year.

The Yankees scrimping. This really is a recession.

Finally, the Biz of Baseball site posted yesterday the breakdown of postseason shares by team. Here's what the Cubs got and handed out:

Chicago Cubs (Share of Players’ Pool: $1,534,779.83; value of each full share: $25,032.89) – The Cubs awarded 50 full shares, 11.03 partial shares and five cash awards.

The shares are usually voted on by the players themselves. I'm guessing the partial shares went to players like Matt Murton and Sean Gallagher who were traded, or guys like Kevin Hart and Neal Cotts, who spent part of the year in the minors.

Let's hope they have larger shares -- like the $351.504.48 per full share that the champion Phillies gave out -- to distribute in 2009.

That's what the Giants are going to do in 2009:

Team president Larry Baer calls it "dynamic pricing" and figures it might just become the way of the future for professional sports franchises. The Giants have partnered with a software company that will make it possible to quickly change the ticket prices based on the popularity of a given game -- not to mention weather, a possible milestone or a player from a visiting team who brings extra interest.

"We're going to experiment with this a little bit in a few sections of the park," Baer said. "What this really is, is the ticket business is changing dramatically and quickly. There's a chance we might wake up 10 years from now and tickets will be priced according to demand, like the airlines."

Interesting concept. Doing something like this wouldn't affect the Cubs too much, because they sell so many tickets in advance. But dropping the price on otherwise unsold seats might get a few more bodies into ballparks that might not sell out.

With the great majority of Cubs fans puzzled and/or angry that Kerry Wood wasn't offered arbitration yesterday, I figured it was time to open the Can and let LaTroy Hawkins out, just to remind all of you that things could be a lot worse.

And though I know most of us don't have any good memories of a player some called "LaToya", let's also remember that his failures as a Cub, while monumental, in many ways weren't his fault.

Best forgotten as a Cub, here's
LaTroy pictured during his
half-season in San Francisco

photo via www.cbc.ca

What do I mean by this? Hawkins was signed as a free agent after the 2003 season, following one good and one outstanding year as a setup man for Joe Nathan with Minnesota. In fact, Hawkins was likely the best non-closing reliever in the majors in 2003 -- he had a 1.76 ERA in 74 appearances comprising 77.1 innings. He allowed only 5 homers, and struck out 75 and walked only 15.

It all would have worked out fine if Joe Borowski hadn't gotten hurt early in the 2004 season. And when that happened, Dusty installed LaTroy at closer, despite ample evidence that Hawkins wasn't suited to close. In his last full year of closing at Minnesota, he put up 28 saves -- but had nine blown saves and an ERA of 5.96, with 39 walks and only 36 strikeouts in 51.1 innings. The next year, 2002, the Twins installed Eddie Guardado at closer; he saved 45 games, Hawkins was good setting him up and perhaps not coincidentally, the Twins improved by nine wins and won the AL Central.

Perhaps Dusty didn't have a whole lot of other choices in 2004. Kyle Farnsworth was on the 2004 Cubs, but his better days were already behind him. Michael Wuertz was a rookie, and we know that Baker would never have entrusted the closer role to a rookie. Ryan Dempster was still rehabbing from an injury -- though, when he was activated in August, he made 23 relief appearances with a decent 3.92 ERA and two saves. So LaTroy was given the job fulltime in early June. He did OK up till September, when he blew two critical games in the season's final week, and about that, enough said, I think -- no need to relive that. He finished 2004 with nine blown saves -- turn around five of those, and the Cubs win the wild card.

Despite calls from everyone from bloggers to sportswriters to Jim Hendry for Dempster to be installed at closer, Dusty insisted that LaTroy could do the job in 2005. Dempster began the year in the rotation, and Hawkins blew four saves by May 13, at which time Dempster was given the closer role. The third of the four blown saves is the one all of us will remember forever -- it happened on May 6, 2005. In the top of the ninth, with the Cubs leading the Phillies 2-1 -- on a Derrek Lee two-run homer off Billy Wagner in the last of the 8th -- Hawkins gave up two singles, then got Ryan Howard for the first out. Jose Offerman then batted for Marlon Byrd. Earlier in his career Offerman had put up decent OBA's (96 walks in 1999) but by this time he usually hacked at everything.

Hawkins walked him, loading the bases. The next batter, pinch-hitter Placido Polanco, hit a screaming line drive right back to LaTroy. The runners had broken with the crack of the bat. LaTroy had Offerman caught off base. He threw to D-Lee. Game over, right?

Wrong. Hawkins' throw hit Offerman in the helmet. If he had tried to do that 999 more times, he couldn't have done it again. The ball ricocheted into the right field corner, two runs scored and the Cubs lost 3-2.

That was it for Hawkins in the eyes of me and most other Cubs fans. He began to be booed unmercifully, and even louder, in his next appearance on May 9, he gave up a homer to the Mets' Doug Mientkiewics that broke a 4-4 tie and cost the Cubs another game. By the end of May, Hendry had to ship him out of town; somehow he got the Giants to take his contract. In return the Cubs got Jerome Williams, who seemed to have potential but who was last seen in the Dodgers' farm system in 2008, and David Aardsma, who brought Neal Cotts to the North Side, so at least there's still someone on the roster as a result of the Hawkins signing, which happened five years ago tomorrow.

Interestingly, once the Astros got Hawkins last August, he was outstanding -- an 0.43 ERA in 24 games and only 5 walks, in a setup role. The Astros re-signed LaTroy for 2009. But... Lou says he's looking for another right-handed reliever. You don't suppose...

Nah. Too terrible to contemplate.

The Tribune reports this afternoon on the new round of bidding:

At least three prospective buyers have submitted a new round of bids to Tribune Co. for the Chicago Cubs, one of professional sports' trophy franchises.

Chicago real estate investor Hersch Klaff; the Ricketts family, founder of online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Marc Utay, a New York private equity investor, delivered their proposals by the Thanksgiving deadline, according to sources involved in the negotiations.

The name Marc Utay is new to me -- I don't recall his name being mentioned in the first round, and don't know anything about him. If you're wondering what's up with Mark Cuban, the article says:

It was unknown at the time this report was filed whether two other prospective buyers -- Houston businessman Jim Crane and Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team -- had submitted new bids.

While Cuban has expressed ardent interest in the Cubs, he has not been active in the sales process for months, according to a source. His chances to buy the team took a hit when federal securities regulators charged him last month with insider trading.

I still believe the Ricketts group is the one that will eventually end up with the Cubs; the Ricketts family, though living now in Omaha, has Chicago roots and from what I have heard, would stand back, let the baseball people run the show and open up the purse strings. As ever, we await further developments.

Today is the deadline for major league teams to offer arbitration to their free agents -- 10:59 pm Central time, specifically, so we may not hear specifics till tomorrow.

photo via assets.espn.go.com

So does Kerry Wood get offered arbitration? Yes. No. Maybe. You can bet that if he is offered arb, he'll accept -- and don't assume that's a budget-breaker, either. Wood wants to remain a Cub -- we all know that. It's more than possible he'll take less than an arbitrator would award to do so. The deadline for Wood to accept arb, if offered, is next Sunday, December 7.

What will be more interesting to see is whether other players, particularly, as noted in Ken Rosenthal's article above, Adam Dunn, are offered arbitration. It's possible the Diamondbacks will want to keep him; we'll see after today.

Other Cub rumors are summarized neatly in this Dave van Dyck article, in which he says, basically, nothing's happening right now and isn't likely to until the winter meetings get under way next week.

Use this thread for arbitration and trade discussion today. I'll update the post with any new information if it comes in during the day.