PEORIA, Ariz. — San Diego Padres CEO Erik Greupner said Tuesday, amid pending litigation over control of the franchise, that he expects the team to remain under current ownership and spend enough money to “compete for World Series championships.”
Greupner, who traditionally has joined the Padres’ control person for annual press conferences near the start of spring training, met with the media on his own during the second day of full-squad workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex. John Seidler, the older brother of late team owner Peter Seidler, is not scheduled to make his first public appearance until he is officially named Padres chairman. That appointment is expected to come next month, weeks after Peter Seidler’s widow sued two of his other brothers in an attempt to become the club’s control person.
Tuesday, without mentioning Sheel Seidler by name, Greupner addressed the allegation that Matt Seidler — the current trustee of Peter Seidler’s trust — was planning to sell or perhaps even relocate the Padres.
“I have been told multiple times that the team is not for sale and will not be sold,” Greupner said. “The Seidler family has viewed this team as a generational asset. Peter spoke about that. The rest of his family has continued to speak about that. This team is not going to be relocated. This team is not going to be sold. The commitment remains to keep this team in the current ownership that it’s in right now and continue to run it the way we’ve been running it.”
Speaking amid a relatively quiet offseason in terms of roster additions, Greupner described the Padres’ present payroll level — projected by FanGraphs at roughly $207 million — as “sufficient” for the pursuit of their first World Series title and part of “a long-term plan that was set … several years ago.”
“I think we have a team, like you saw last year, that’s capable of going down and accomplishing our goal,” Greupner said.
Last offseason, the Padres mourned Peter Seidler’s death while cutting close to $90 million from the club-record $255 million payroll Seidler authorized in 2023. With Eric Kutsenda serving as interim control person, the team went on to surprise, winning 93 games and pushing the Los Angeles Dodgers to a winner-take-all Game 5 in the National League Division Series.
The excitement generated by a largely successful season has since been tempered. While the Dodgers and other National League teams have made blockbuster acquisitions, the Padres’ payroll increase has mostly come via built-in salary raises. Despite assertions that the Seidler family plans to keep the franchise, the highly publicized dispute between Sheel Seidler, the beneficial owner of a 24 percent stake in the team, and her brothers-in-law has led to speculation that the franchise eventually will be put up for sale.
Greupner pushed back against that speculation, as well as the idea that litigation has affected the club’s day-to-day operations.
“It hasn’t,” Greupner said. “The goal remains the same. It’s been business as usual. Really, we’ve been uninterrupted by the noise outside of the organization, and we’ve been given the resources we need, the stability we need.”
Greupner cited the leadership of Kutsenda, a longtime business partner of Peter Seidler’s, and the possibility that longtime general manager A.J. Preller will make more moves before Opening Day.
“As it was last year, some of the players that we’ve been most interested in — (Nick) Pivetta — being one of them — have come to us towards the end of the offseason,” Greupner said.
The CEO also acknowledged the ongoing challenges of the team’s television situation. Major League Baseball took over production and distribution of all Padres games in 2023, but the streaming model has yet to come close to producing the level of revenue San Diego received from its now-defunct regional sports network.
“The decline of the regional sports network business model … has impacted us in San Diego, no doubt,” said Greupner, who took the opportunity Tuesday to announce a long-term extension for popular play-by-play broadcaster Don Orsillo. “We are confident that we’re maximizing the opportunity that we have in our market through partnering with MLB Media at this time.”
The Padres, at least, are anticipating a third consecutive season of robust attendance. Petco Park drew more than 3 million fans in both 2023 and 2024, and the team announced in January that season tickets were sold out.
“We knew, long-term, the sustainability of (the Padres’) payroll is going to be determined by the fan support and the level of revenue we’ve been able to generate in our market,” Greupner said. “You know, we remain one of the smallest media markets in baseball. Yet, despite that, our fans have been amazing, and they’ve supported this team, and we owe them an incredible debt of gratitude. And we’re at a level right now with our payroll where we’re putting everything that we have, that we can generate in our market, into this team. And for that to be a top-10 payroll is pretty amazing considering the size of our market.”
Greupner said he has known John Seidler for 13 years — the latter became a Padres minority owner in 2012 when Peter Seidler and San Diego businessman Ron Fowler led a group that purchased the franchise — and expects “no change” in operations under the chairman-elect. John Seidler, who was unanimously approved by MLB’s owners earlier this month, will not assume his role as control person until he takes over from Matt Seidler as the trustee of Peter Seidler’s trust; with teams controlled by a trust, the league requires that the same person hold both titles.
That process is expected to be completed by early-to-mid March, although it remains to be seen if the lawsuit brought by Sheel Seidler affects John Seidler’s appointment. In the meantime, Padres executives have continued to say they are operating as if little has changed.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with (John Seidler) at Padres games and in Padres ownership meetings,” Greupner said. “He’s got a love for this franchise and a love for baseball. And he’s excited to step into that role and continue what his brother Peter was leading for so many years, for the ownership group that he’s a part of, and ultimately deliver that World Series championship to San Diego.”
(Top photo: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
