Good News for the Tribune Co.

The bankrupt Tribune Co., which has been steadily laying off staff for almost a year now, finally settled on a new owner for the Chicago Cubs. The Ricketts family will reported pay $900 million for the Cubbies, Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet.

The deal is worth $200 million more than the previous highest value paid for a baseball team — the Boston Red Sox in 2002 — but still well below the $1 billion figure some analysts predicted the club would fetch in 2007.

While there are still hurdles to clear — details must still be hammered out and 23 of Major League Baseball’s 30 owners must approve — the team expects to have its new owner in place by opening day, just in time to watch its new club begin a new campaign to not win the World Series.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.