When the news surfaced that the San Diego Padres were being put up for sale, there were also ominous reports of a lawsuit within the suddenly-divided Seidler family.
First some background. John Seidler, the older brother of the late Peter Seidler, became the team’s chairman and controlling executive in February, and in November the family began exploring a potential sale. According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Forbes valued the franchise at $1.95 billion, but the Seidler family is seeking a sale price well above that number.
The lawsuit was brought by Sheel Seidler, Peter’s widow, who accused Matt and Bob Seidler of “breaches of trust of fiduciary duty” and fraud in their roles as trustees and executors of the Seidler trust. She still has outstanding claims regarding trust distributions and a demand for accounting, but her filing stated that the two sides had reached “agreement to resolve the matters between them,” although the terms remain undisclosed.
Sheel Seidler also alleged that “Matt’s efforts to promote his brother John as Control Person and to block Sheel may well be part of his efforts to sell, and perhaps relocate, the team, over Sheel’s strident objections,” according to Lin’s writeup.
Matt Seidler responded by denying allegations that he and his brother acted in bad faith, and he accused Sheel of being motivated by a pursuit of “control and unlimited money.”
The end to the messy family infighting could speed the pace of the sale, but it’s unlikely to affect the short-term operation of the team. The Padres have had a static offseason with few moves, although they did make a small one yesterday, signing corner infielder and outfielder Miguel Andujar to a low-cost $4 million deal.
The long-term aspects are more intriguing. Potential buyers include Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who has expressed an interest in buying the Padres, and two owners of English Premier League clubs, Dan Friendkin and Jose E. Feliciano. Additional bidders will undoubtedly be heard from now that the Seidlers seem to be on the same page regarding the sale.
The timing of all this could get awkward and then some. Ideally, bidders would be going through the MLB vetting process during the offseason, then submitting specific amounts. But this could be happening during the season with the Padres trying to compete for a playoff spot, even though most projection have them finishing around .500 due to the lack of moves. Also, the question of relocation has yet to be fully addressed or put to bed, so that’s yet another potential issue that needs to be resolved.