The McClatchy Company

It seems that the McClatchy Company has agreed to buy Knight Ridder, the second largest newspaper publisher in the country, for $4.5 billion (free registration required at the link). Since the acquisition is being described as "A dolphin swallowing a small whale," it is being speculated that the McClatchy Company will be selling some oftheir newspapers and other assets and some of Knight Ridder's papers to make the deal profitable for themselves. I don't know how directly what Kevin McClatchy does with the Pirates correlates to the McClatchy Company, but I'd assume there is some connection as he's on the Board of Directors in his family's company. Perhaps one of the assets to be sold is the baseball team with the low salary, high profits, beautiful stadium, good All-Star Game publicity, and a billionaire waiting to buy them?

Thanks to reader Ben Miller for the tip.