2011 Blues Offseason Thread

[MrCrowesGarden]

Grachev sounds like he's been playing well, he could be a surprise.

Jeremy Rutherford makes it sound like he should grab one of the 13-14 spots, battling it out with Reaves and Porter. But, I don't know if I'd want him there instead of getting a chance to play every night in Peoria. It's a tough decision.

[longhornbaseball]

Grachev, Reaves, and Porter made the team due to Crombeen's broken shoulder. Elliot is going to be the backup with Bishop being sent back to Peoria. That isn't much of a surprise.

I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of fun watching Stewart and Berglund together all year.

[Lesson]

Dave Checketts has a verbal agreement to sell a majority stake in the Blues to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer in a deal in which Checketts could remain with the club in some capacity, three sources involved in the process have told the Post-Dispatch.
Two of the sources said that Checketts has signed a letter of intent and believe the deal is with Hulsizer, although one source indicated that it's a verbal agreement and is far from being completed. The deal is not considered binding and would not become official until the two sides enter a purchase agreement and it's approved by the NHL.
It appears, however, that if the negotiations progress in the current direction, Hulsizer would become the Blues' No. 1 investor and Checketts could remain in the management of the franchise.
Checketts was unavailable for comment Wednesday, according to a spokesman for his company, SCP Worldwide. Neither Hulsizer nor his business partner, Brad Goldberg, have returned messages left by the Post-Dispatch.
The Blues have been for sale since mid-March, when Checketts announced that he and TowerBrook Capital Partners, the club's current top investor, could not reach an agreement on a price for TCP's 70-percent stake in the club. At that point, Checketts made it clear that the "whole kit and kaboodle" was for sale.
"The bottom line is I've been unable to make a deal with (TCP)," said Checketts, who said he owns 20 percent of the club. "As a result, I've got to turn from being a buyer to a seller."
Game Plan LLC, the firm conducting the sale, set a deadline of Aug. 22 for prospective buyers to submit an informal bid for the Blues. The Post-Dispatch reported that two of the offers came from current minority owner Tom Stillman, whom Checketts has said owns 10 percent of the team, and Calgary businessman Max Chambers.Chambers acknowledged last month that his offer of $167 million was rejected.
Hulsizer submitted one previous offer that was rejected, but it was unclear if he had made a second offer before the team's self-imposed deadline.
Hulsizer, according to one source, was working on his own schedule and, according to another source, said the asking price - believed to be $190 million - was too high and he would only re-enter the picture if the price dropped.
There has been an option all along, however, that Hulsizer could invest in the Blues and keep Checketts in charge, and according to sources, that now appears to be the plan. The details of that arrangement remain unclear.
In July, when Checketts was asked about such a configuration with Hulsizer, he said: "I haven't been approached by anybody that way. We went through that process (of finding investors to keep the current ownership intact) for awhile, and we didn't find anybody that way. I had to agree with TowerBrook that I'd put the whole thing up for sale. That's the direction it's headed."
But that appears to have changed.
Meanwhile, there continues to be some pressure to get a sale finalized soon. The deadline for Checketts' extension on his $120 million loan with Citigroup was Sept. 30, but a source says the bank is working with Checketts until a sale can be completed.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/arti ... z1Zx9PXt4S

[expletive] yes.

[Popeye_Card]

If accurate, this is likely the best possible situation. Hopefully Hulsizer has enough cash to spend up to the cap, or at least closer.

[albertmvpujols]

Not sure if this was posted before or not, but I thought this was pretty awesome.

[TheoSqua]

Yeah it's a classy thing for Halak to do.