Padres New Owners Officially Approved By MLB

The Seidlers have official league approval to sell the San Diego Padres to billionaire José E. Feliciano and his business partner and wife, Kwanza Jones, as MLB’s owners unanimously approved the transaction on Monday, the league announced. The actual transaction still has to be finalized over the next few weeks, per the Associated Press. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement following the vote that, “José and Kwanza understand the unique place the Padres hold in San Diego and the powerful bond between the club and its fans. We look forward to their leadership of the Padres and to working with them to build on the club’s strong foundation in a market that is so important to Major League Baseball.” The Padres were purchased by a group including Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler in Aug. 2012 for $800 million, and in 2020 Seidler took over as the control person for the club. When Peter Seidler died in Nov. 2023, his remaining siblings in the ownership group controlled the club, before exploring a potential sale late in 2025. Feliciano and Jones’ group emerged as the favorite, with a winning bid of $3.9 billion – an MLB record. “We are a family first, and becoming owners of the San Diego Padres means joining an even larger one,” Feliciano and Jones said in their own statement following the approval. “We are grateful to the Seidler family, and especially to Peter, for raising the expectations of what this franchise can achieve. … Our ambition is clear: to bring a World Series championship to San Diego and build an enduring organization capable of competing for championships year after year. We intend to be engaged owners, bringing our energy, experience and perspective while working alongside the talented team already in place and investing ambitiously and thoughtfully in the Padres’ future. “We are all in and committed to winning.” Feliciano and Jones take over a franchise that has markedly increased its spending since even before Seidler took over: in 2015, the Padres’ payroll jumped to $108 million, more than double what it was in the final season of the previous ownership group under Jeff Moorad. Then, Manny Machado was signed to a 10-year, $300 million free agent contract before the 2019 campaign, and the Padres ramped up their spending from there. Even after the payroll decreased following Seidler’s death, it was still among the league’s loftiest totals: San Diego has had a top-10 payroll in five of the last six seasons, and have paid the luxury tax penalty three times since 2022. While the Padres have not reached the World Series during this stretch, the four postseason appearances in the last six seasons, high average win total and three-straight seasons of at least 3.271 million fans in attendance has marked this as the most successful lengthy stretch in franchise history. There are no plans, per MLB’s statement, to replace either general manager A.J. Preller nor CEO Erik Greupner. Through Sunday, the 2026 Padres are in second place in the NL West, at 67-58, and are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the second NL wild-card spot. San Diego is currently projected to pay the luxury tax once more, with an estimated $264 million competitive balance tax payroll figure that could have it paying both the consecutive-season additional 30% surcharge, as well as an additional 12% for being $20 million over the $244 million threshold.