Is the Tribune Sale Killing Carlos Zambrano's Contract?

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal thinks so.

The deal, which Zambrano originally set a strict deadline for, and which later looked close to completion, is now almost completely kaput, and Rosenthal blames the delay on the Tribune sale's effect on the front office's bottom line:

Three weeks later, the pending transactions are holding up the completion of Zambrano's $80 million agreement, and the talks are a week or so away from being tabled until the end of the season, major-league sources tell FOXSports.com.
Not good news for the Cubs.

Zambrano, who turns 26 on June 1, wants to remain with the team, but the closer he gets to free agency, the more difficult and expensive it will be for the Cubs to keep him - and the greater the potential for distraction.

The solution is for Tribune to approve the deal as soon as possible. The Cubs' failure to sign Zambrano would raise disturbing questions about the team's ability to add payroll at the July 31 non-waiver deadline and even next offseason, when the sale of Tribune still might not be complete.

Hmm. While I don't doubt Rosenthal's assertion here, I would also argue that Zambrano's disappointing play might be causing a bit of a panic among the suits in the Cubs front office. Big Z's an elite pitcher, but he hasn't been playing like one, and if that's driven the price down even slightly, it is less and less likely this deal is going to get done soon, if ever.