Cubs reject bid from assumed front-runner

Chicago -- The Chicago Cubs rejected an offer from the supposed favorite to buy the team and narrowed to five viable bids, all at $1 billion or more, officials say.

The Cubs, owned by the Tribune Co., rejected an offer from a large investment group led by John Canning Jr., chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners.

Canning, a part owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, is a close associate of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, and had been regarded a front-runner in the quest for the Cubs, Wrigley Field and related properties, the Chicago Sun-Times said Thursday.

Sources said the rejection of the Canning group didn't necessarily take it out of the game, described by one auction source as being "only in the second inning," the Chicago Tribune reported.

The media company went private last year in a heavily leveraged $8.2 billion transaction engineered by Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.