MLB owners approve John Seidler as new head of San Diego Padres

New York Times

06-02-2025

PALM BEACH, Fla. — One month after a legal dispute between family members of late Padres chairman Peter Seidler spilled into public view, Major League Baseball's owners have unanimously approved Seidler's older brother, John Seidler, as the control person of the San Diego franchise. The appointment will become official once John Seidler takes over as the trustee of Peter Seidler's trust, a process that could take about 30 days to complete.
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It remains to be seen if pending litigation affects that process. Thursday's vote came a little more than four weeks after Peter Seidler's widow, Sheel Seidler, sued two of her husband's younger brothers, Matt and Bob Seidler, as part of an attempt to become the club's controlling owner. For teams controlled by a trust, the league requires that the permanent control person also serve as the trustee.
If appointed, John Seidler will simultaneously succeed Matt Seidler as trustee and Eric Kutsenda as Padres chairman.
Seidler, 65, could soon oversee a team that won 93 games last season and took the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink in the National League Division Series. Yet, after spending record sums under Peter Seidler, the Padres have operated with a significantly tighter budget for a second consecutive winter. Similar restraint is expected to continue under John Seidler, at least in the short term.
A nephew of former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley, John Seidler has been a Padres minority owner since Peter Seidler and San Diego businessman Ron Fowler led a group that purchased the franchise in 2012. Peter Seidler, who took over as control person in 2020, died in November 2023 of an infection related to a compromised immune system. The Padres chairman was replaced on an interim basis by Kutsenda, a longtime friend and co-founder of Seidler's private equity firm.
A little more than a year later, Matt Seidler announced Dec. 21 that he had appointed John Seidler as the team's permanent control person, pending the approval of three-quarters of the league's owners. On Jan. 6, Sheel Seidler filed a complaint in Texas probate court, contesting control of the Padres and accusing Matt and Bob Seidler of fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty in their roles as successor trustees of Peter Seidler's trust. It was later revealed that the two brothers and Kutsenda had previously initiated arbitration proceedings against Sheel Seidler for some of the claims in her lawsuit.
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In the suit, Sheel Seidler said John Seidler is a civil engineer with 'no ties to the San Diego community' and 'without professional involvement in the Padres.' In a response filed last week, Matt Seidler said John Seidler is a frequent attendee at Padres' home games and an 'accomplished entrepreneur and leader' whose business credentials include serving as CEO of an engineering consulting firm. The filing also said that Peter Seidler never intended for his wife to serve as his trustee or Padres control person.
Sheel Seidler's lawsuit petitioned the court to void John Seidler's nomination as control person and appoint a neutral third party as trustee. Legal experts have said the dispute could take months or years to be resolved.
Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, the Padres face challenges to sustaining their status as a postseason contender. The team's projected $205 million payroll is up from last season, but most of the increase has come through salary raises, and San Diego has added minimal financial commitments in free agency and trades. With pitchers and catchers reporting next week, the front office is considering trading away key players to address obvious holes in the roster.
The Padres' somber offseason stands in contrast to the excitement Peter Seidler generated as an owner who brought star players to San Diego and paid them handsomely, sometimes relying on creative financing. The team since his death has returned to compliance with MLB's debt-service rules, and the Seidler family, as evidenced by Thursday's vote, is considered to be in good standing with the league. Meanwhile, people familiar with the Seidler brothers' thinking say they have no intention to sell the franchise.
Still, the family conflict has rendered the Padres' future uncertain, with some in the industry predicting that ownership eventually will consider a sale. The Seidler family is believed to hold about a 45 percent stake in a franchise that Forbes valued last year at $1.78 billion. That includes Sheel Seidler and her three children, who are beneficiary owners of the trust that owns approximately a quarter of the club.
(with reports from The Athletic's Evan Drellich)