The Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday that the company had been evaluating bids since early December and could make a decision within a week to 10 days.

The three prospective buyers include Chicago real estate investor Hersch Klaff; the Ricketts family, founders of online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Marc Utay, a New York-based private equity investor.

The buyer would still have to be approved by a three-quarters vote of baseball owners. A bankruptcy judge also may have a say in the process because the Tribune Co. filed for Chapter 11 protection on Dec. 8. The Cubs were not included in that filing.

The three groups submitted their final bids in early December after receiving detailed financial data on the Cubs, Wrigley Field and a 25-percent stake in a regional sports TV network.

The Tribune Co. put the Cubs on the block on Opening Day in April 2007 when it announced it would be bought for $8.2 billion by a group led by real estate magnate Sam Zell. Analysts have said the team and the other assets could attract bids topping $1 billion. But the sale has been delayed and the country's economic situation has led to speculation that final bids could be lower than expected.

There is no deadline as to when the Cubs ownership will be resolved, but Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said last month he hoped it would be finalized in Spring Training and the new owners in place by Opening Day 2009.

"For all of our benefit, we hope by Spring Training we're finished," Kenney said. "There's a lot of planning that we do want to do and having an owner at the seat of the table would help."