SUNDAY: San Diego businessman Ron Fowler will be the lead limited partner in the O'Malley group's purchase of the Padres, sources tell Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Peter O'Malley, his two sons, and his two nephews will have prominent but lesser roles within the ownership group. Heyman adds a quick approval by MLB is possible, perhaps even by the August owners meetings, since Fowler's new role gives the team a local lead and his reputation within baseball appears positive.
SATURDAY: The sale is "not done yet," reports Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The O'Malley group is in exclusive negotiations to purchase the team, however.
FRIDAY: The O'Malley group has been selected to purchase the Padres, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). They will pay $800MM total, including $200MM for a portion of the team's equity in FOX Sports San Diego.
Late last month we heard that Steve Cohen dropped out of the bidding once the price climbed that high, so the O'Malleys have been expected to land the team for the last few weeks now. Current owner John Moores acquired the franchise back in 1994 for approximately $80MM.
The Padres have a number of high-priced players who could be trade bait at the deadline, specifically Carlos Quentin and Huston Street. The new ownership should provide some clarity as far as their financial situation going forward, such as their ability to offer long-term contracts. Just yesterday GM Josh Byrnes said he did not have the ability to offer contract extensions at this time.
yesss!!!!!!!!!!!
Good. Now lets make some decisions and move on.
John Moores takes a final crap on the Padres by taking the $200 million in the upfront money the team received from Fox Sports. Money that should be going into the team. Good, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, jerkoff.
Prior to the divorce freezing the payroll and two years of Moorad stewardship, John Moores gave this team more winning seasons and playoff appearances than any other ownership in team history. He is the best owner the team has ever had.
Instead of denigrating his ownership, you should be thanking him for all he has done.
saying he is the best owner the team has ever had doesnt really say much. Personally, I would take Moorad over Moores.
Ray Kroc would beg to differ….
The O’Malley name is still mud in Brooklyn.
And that’s relevant how??
How dare someone make an observation. Calm down and don’t worry about what I type.
If you are going to make an observation, maybe it could be a tad relevant to anything that has happened in the last 60 years. If you put it out there, expect people to reply….even irrelevant tidbits
Last I checked Brooklyn is irrelevant.
they are rioting on the streets in Brooklyn tonight boys
Are da Dadga’s still dem Bums. in Brooklyn? They drew better, won more and had a FAR, FAR better stadium than that Ebbetts field in LA. The only thing they didn’t really have better was as colorful a manager as Leo “the lip” durocher, who don’t think ever won more than 1 pennant with the old Dodgers. Alston was the big winner for the LAD.
No wonder they left Flatbush…..
Lost all respect for Peter O’Malley. The 74 year old just traded his legacy for money. Dad is rolling over in his grave, despite being an astute businessman.
Peter O’Malley had a legacy? You’re a number of years too late with the loss of respect. You should have lost it after he sold the Dodgers to McCourt for money.
And as for the father rolling over in his grave, I doubt that. The old man left Brooklyn for a better deal and more money in LA. The son’s just following in the father’s footsteps.
The explanation at the time was that the sale was for estate purposes, i.e., his sister was entitled to 50%. Hindsight is 20/20. The old man liked money, sure, and was good at making it, but Brooklyn left him no choice. Walter would have been just as reviled if he had swapped franchises with Stoneham.
Good riddance Moores (expletive expletive)… Welcome O’Malley group!
Quality people. Hope they turn the Friars back into winners. The O’Malley name alone might actually net the team a decent FA this winter for a change. Nice to have them back in MLB.
Awesome. Will they be able to spend now?
The Padres have been able to spend since the beginning of 2012 when the Moores divorce was final. That is why you saw an increase of nearly $20 million.
Team payroll was locked for several years by the courts until then.
Oh great! I didn’t even realize.
I agree with that, Websoulsurfer. Its too bad that so many forget so quickly that if it had not been for John Moores the Padres would have been long gone from our beautiful city. Just like Ray Kroc years ago, who kept the team here at the last moment- when it was actually packed up to leave town- that is almost the same scenario that happened with Moores buying the team and promising to leave it here.
He could have bought the Padres and taken them elsewhere, but he respected the real baseball fans enough to give us a team we could be sure would stay here. There are so many of us who are very grateful to him and the legacy he leaves here. His philanthropic deeds will continue to benefit our city, in so many ways, for many years to come. How many of you even know about such things?
Good for the O’Malley family,im glad there back in baseball.
Cant wait to hear the details of how Moores was allowed to walk away with 200 million
Bud Selig better not let Moores walk off with 200 million of TV money, though it seems likely.
Seeing as how Moores owns 20% of FOX Sports SD, he should get paid to transfer his ownership of that entity to the new owner of the team.
He is not taking away anything. The new owner will get that money over the term of the Fox contract because they will now have that equity position in Fox Sports SD.
How angry would you be if Moores KEPT that ownership of Fox Sports SD and got that money every year INSTEAD of the team getting it?
People really need to get a clue as to how these things work.
The 200 million was an upfront bonus given to for the sale of the deal. I have no problem with him getting a big chunk of change for the sale of his 20% stake, but he should not get that bonus. That money should go to the team. That bonus is more like a signing bonus/advance for the life of the deal.
O’Malley is a good guy, he helped save the Giants for San Francisco. His family couldn’t really afford to live downtown with the Steinbrenners of the world so now they’re moving to the sticks.
So I guess the next headline will be, “Fowler is not the lead limited partner”. I wish this would just get done already. Whenever there is good news, an hour later there is a report to the contrary. One good thing about this, is that with Fowler heading things up, maybe Byrnes will have someone in his corner. He deserves a chnace to finish what he has started.
I wonder what the front office and coaching staff will look like in 2013.
I’m sure the O’Malley clan has kept close contacts in MLB since selling the Dodgers.
They didn’t stray too far from the game. They just took a breather and regrouped.
Thanks for the correction.
Fox news did a little better with the LAD than CBS did with the NYY at least huh Slope? CBS just tried to run them into the ground and pump them as a cash cow. They did at least sell ’em to George, which is probably the best thing that has happened in baseball (yeah.. from me even) over the past 40 years.
Fox had 40+ years to see the potential of Baseball’s monetary return if done correctly, because of George. While Steinbrenner did many good things, I wouldn’t say he’s the best thing that happened in Baseball.
While he didn’t intend to do so, and did not do it while he controlled the Yanks, his actions and business deals laid the foundation for the way in which currently fans are being gouged at all ballparks.
Padres fans will see it creeping slowly into their prices in the next few years, I’m sorry to say.
*Yeah*….. I guess gouging fans also came about from his FA spending and improvement of the team, which in turn forced the other teams to improve as well, better deals to improve other areas in which they could make money to compete.. Change every aspect in which teams *used* to operate before FA did and even though Georgie didn’t sign the 1st FA, he did start with the hugest and big deals that had him as “public enemy #1” amongst owners, forcing their hands to compete, or get out like old time thinkers Charles O’ Finley, Bill Veeck, Calvin Griffith etc..
His way brought teams that couldn’t compete before into a new light.. the “instant cure” and you have to admit that it worked.