Interesting tidbit I gathered this weekend from someone I spoke with who regularly has conversations at the ownership level of professional baseball.

This person tells me that its a near lock that Madison Deaborn Partners Chair & CEO John Canning Jr. (pictured left) will be the next owner of the Chicago Cubs. Canning Jr. has a very solid connection with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig as he is an investor in the Milwaukee Brewers......the team Selig owned before he became Commissioner. Selig still resides in Milwaukee.

When I asked this baseball insider about the potential for Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to land the Cubs, this person told me, "Even if Cuban offered $2 Billion for the Cubs, Selig would never allow Cuban to become a Major League Baseball owner." Also hurting Cuban’s chances will be the fact that Chicago White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who is also close friends with Selig, will likely lobby hard against Cuban as he won’t want his White Sox overshadowed by a Cuban-led Cubs team in Chicago. Reinsdorf also owns the NBA's Chicago Bulls and is reportedly not fond of Cuban via his association with Cuban in NBA circles.

Billionaire Sam Zell purchased the Cubs parent company, the Tribune Company for $8.2B in April. Zell announced at the time that he would be selling off the Cubs at season's end. The sale of the Cubs has attracted credible interest from about 15 parties according to Reuters. After a review of the bids, it is expected that the Cubs will be sold by the end of October. The sales price could top $1B - especially if Wrigley Field and Comcast SportsNet Chicago are included in the deal.

It is also worth noting that Zell is close with Jerry Reinsdorf as he is an investor in Reinsdorf's White Sox and Bulls. So you'd think that the last thing Zell would want to do is to sell the Cubs to a buyer that Reinsdorf hasn't signed off on - someone like Mark Cuban.

After talking to the baseball insider I spoke with today, its become very clear that the following factors will make it very remote that Cuban or any of the other credible parties will be taken seriously in their effort to purchase the Cubs:

- Selig's close relationship with Brewers investor John Canning Jr.

- Selig's close relationship with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf  (Reinsdorf doesn't want to be overshadowed in Chicago by Cuban)

- Zell's close relationship with Reinsdorf (Zell is an investor in Reinsdorf's Bulls and White Sox)

Yes, all of the owners in Major League Baseball will have to vote and sign off on the sale of the Cubs, but I can smell some collusion going on already and from what I learned this weekend, it sounds like John Canning Jr., who resides in Chicago, is already assured of landing the Cubs.

This is yet another example of MLB Commissioner fulfilling his own agenda and the agendas of those close to him - in this case Canning Jr. and Reinsdorf - instead of taking a step back to examine what's best for his league and giving ALL of the parties who have submitted their bids for the Cubs a fair shot.

Personally, as I've written before I think Cuban and the Cubs would be a match made in heaven. But it looks as though he and the other parties who are bidding on the Cubs, won't be given the opportunity.

Canning Jr. may very well turn out to be a fantastic owner of the Cubs, but I'm not a big fan of how this selection process is playing itself out behind the scenes.

Watch this one very closely. It just doesn't smell right.