The Padres are for sale and they seem to be making progress on that front. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the field of potential buyers has been narrowed from five to four and that the process could be complete by April. Both Acee and Jeff Passan of ESPN report that the sale price is expected to exceed $3 billion.
The Seidler family announced in November that they would be pursuing a sale of the franchise. At that time, it appeared some squabbling within the family could hamper those efforts but reporting in February indicated that some of the legal bumps had been smoothed out and that five prospective buyers had submitted bids. It appears that one of the groups has been removed from the bidding, though Acee doesn’t specify who’s out and who’s still in.
If the price does indeed go beyond $3 billion, that would easily set a new benchmark. The highest sale price for an MLB franchise to date is the $2.4 billion Steve Cohen plonked down to purchase the Mets in 2020.
Turning to the roster, it seems increasingly likely that Joe Musgrove will start the season on the injured list. The righty is looking to get back on the mound after Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2025 season. It was reported three days ago that Musgrove was being brought along slowly in camp. Acee reported yesterday that Musgrove still hasn’t thrown again in the past few days. He pitched three innings in an exhibition game on March 4th but didn’t recover as hoped and has only thrown one bullpen session since then.
The Padres say they are being cautious, with manager Craig Stammen referring to it as a “holding pattern” and a “pause” for Musgrove as they make sure he’s ready to proceed to the next step. “Waiting to kind of get over that hump, feel a little bit better before we start doing anything out on the field,” Stammen said. “But still in a good spot, still something we knew was going to happen, had to prepare for. We’ve got his best interest in mind.”
Even if there’s nothing serious going on, Opening Day is two weeks away, so each day with no progress increases the chances of an IL stint. The Padres are set to open the season with Michael King, Nick Pivetta and Randy Vásquez in three rotation spots. Acee pegs Germán Márquez and Walker Buehler as the favorites for the final two spots, assuming Musgrove hits the IL. Márquez is already on the 40-man roster but Buehler doesn’t yet have a spot. He can opt out of his deal at the end of camp if he doesn’t have one.
Whatever the Friars do for Opening Day will be temporary. Musgrove will be back in the mix at some point. Matt Waldron is behind schedule due to hemorrhoid surgery but is ramping up now. He is expected to start the season on the IL but shouldn’t miss too much time. He is out of options so the Friars would have to find a spot for him on the active roster or bump him off the 40-man. Griffin Canning will also be looking to rejoin the rotation at some point, likely a few weeks later than Musgrove and Waldron.
On the infield, Sung Mun Song is trying to work through a nagging right oblique issue. He may open the season on the injured list, which could have opened a bench spot for someone like Will Wagner. Unfortunately, Acee relays that Wagner is dealing with an oblique strain of his own and has not done any baseball activity since the start of March. He will almost certainly join Song on the IL to start the year. That could increase the chances of someone like Ty France or Mason McCoy getting an Opening Day spot.
Like Buehler, France can opt out of his deal at the end of camp if he’s not added to the 40-man. The Friars opened a spot this week by outrighting Daison Acosta but would need one more if they select both Buehler and France. That won’t be hard. Yu Darvish and Bryan Hoeing are both expected to miss the 2026 season due to surgeries and neither has been moved to the 60-day IL yet.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
The field of bidders was always 4, but Acee f’d up and tried to say that Brees and Kudla were one of the bidders. He is wrong more often than he is right and there are other sources of information about the Padres that are correct most of the time.
Musgrove threw an intersquad game on the 9th, exactly when he would have typically pitched in a game. Acee should know that because he was at camp that day. With 2 days off in the first 8 games, the Padres don’t need 5 starters until the 2nd week in April.
McCoy is the only true SS on the 40 man other than Bogaerts and he is the favorite to get that bench spot, not Wagner. Another mess up by Acee.
Castellanos is expected to make the squad, not France, but that may change. Song played in a backfields game this morning, so he seems on pace to make the team on opening day.
Buehler is throwing 92, 2 MPH less than last season when he was entirely ineffective, and 4 MPH lower than his most effective seasons with the Dodgers. AJ Cassavell believes the Padres’ fifth starter to open the season will be German Marquez, not Buehler. Barring more injuries, if Buehler makes the squad, it will be as a long reliever.
Canning said this morning that he thinks he will need a rehab assignment to build up his pitch count before joining the rotation, but that his leg feels good and his velocity is right where he needs it to be. If he goes out on a month-long rehab assignment at the end of camp, that puts him in the rotation at the end of April.
It is sad that it’s better to read the blogs about the Padres than the daily newspaper’s beat writer because the blogs have a better grasp on what is actually going on.
Boy, everyone’s been talking non-stop on here about how AA didn’t sign enough established starters for the Braves. But no one much questions the Padres patchwork rotation. They look pretty similar to me. Between German Marquez and Bryce Elder, is there much difference between these possible 5th starters?
What are you talking about? Everyone is talking about the Padres rotation. The article itself is about the Padres rotation.
I think it’s likely Musgrove starts the season on the IL. They seem to be in no rush to get him back.
Walker will likely make the rotation and at least het a start or two to see what he can do to start the season.
France or Miranda I think will begin the season on the team with McCoy being waived and likely coming back via a minor league deal.
Song I believe will start the season on the IL. Once healthy they will give him some reps to see if he can handle shortstop.
The other real battle is who starts the season in the pen. Matsui prob starts on the IL opening the door for hart to make the opening day roster.
The Padres don’t need a 5th starter until April 9-10. They could put Musgrove on the IL retroactive to March 23rd and have him step into the rotation for the Manny bobblehead night.
France only makes the team if Castellanos doesn’t and Song starts the season on the IL. Song is looking like he is healthy enough to start playing games again in a day or two. Castellanos is 1 for his last 12, so he may not make the cut. He still has a half dozen opportunities to show that the last 2 weeks are not the real Nicky. France has not been starting “home” games, so he is a real longshot. Today was the first time that most of the regulars traveled.
Miranda has no shot unless there is a major injury and a guy or two ahead of him on the depth chart like Castellanos and France are cut. The only reason he is playing at all is Manny is off at the WBC.
The Padres need a true shortstop as backup and that is McCoy. We know he can’t hit, but he is a great glove. Other than pitchers, the only NRI that may have a realistic shot at making the team is Bowen. That would mean Johnson would have to go through waivers and someone would snag him.
Yeah I’m going with Acee than a commenter here 😜
At your peril Chadsize!
That means you don’t actually read Acee or pay attention to the Padres.
Right, the bidders was only ever 4, crazy Acee. What was the story is that the 4 prospective buyers toured the Spring Training facilities this week. But Acee missed that part
Were
Brew88
The Padres Sale situation is very fluid and moving quickly.
THE ATHLETIC’s Lin & Rosenthal cited sources as saying that California-based apparel brand Vuori owner & CEO Joe Kudla has partnered with Pro Football HOFer Drew Brees and pivoted to explore “the possibility of coming on as partners with other groups for the next round of bidding”.
The Mystery Asian Investor Group reportedly based in South Korea
has not been publicly named.
Not sure what your beef is with one of the major sources for “Inside the Padres” information, but in business and legal situations, including sports teams, plans, projections, proposals change and get modified frequently before final resolution.
Weren’t you one of the posters who stated that the Padres would not be sold?!
And that Peter Seidler’s widow, Sheel, would be taking control of the San Diego Padres?!
Acee has sources inside the Padres Front Office
that could include AJ Preller.
Some stuff Acee is given as “exclusives” may be “trial balloons” to gauge fans’ and the local community’s reaction to ideas they are tossing around in meetings etc. It is just one of the tools in their tool boxes like “focus groups” marketing research and more.
Its Friday, Try a craft beer later in the afternoon, early evening!
Acee has no insider information. He has proven to be wrong about most things including this one. He has been ignored by Preller, Greupner, and John Seidler for about a year. go watch Preller’s last two pressers and the one on Feb 16th by Greupner and Seidler. Its hysterical that the Padres beat writer for the local SD daily newspaper is totally ignored by the FO.
Sheel Seidler was right. She said that the Seidler brothers were money grubbing leeches that wanted to sell the team to fill their own pockets and guess what? They are selling the team. They had to give up control of their brothers trust to her to get her to drop the portion of her lawsuit that affected team control, but she proved right about everything.
Try some water or blueberry or cranberry juice which enhances brain function and put down the alcohol which kills brain cells.
$3 Billion ruminations. Musgrove preservations. Oblique restorations. France has a chance. 40-man manifestations. Check, check, check, check and check.
And perhaps new money cash infusions by June ?? Preller should really be open to new ownership throwing some money around. If he says, No, I am up for the challenge…kinda like Elias with Rubinstein his first year. That wouldn’t be prudent.
will be interesting to see what messages are sent by the new ownership, when and if.
Padres are 6th in spending for 2026. They are about $10 million behind last seasons $279 million which was 6th in spending. The Orioles were 29th in spending when Rubenstein purchased the team.
Preller was not in Peoria or at Hohokam today and rumors are that he was at the Red Sox/Rays game in Ft Myers. Something big may be coming.
I was at Hohokam today!
Lucky. What was the temperature at gametime? King looked frustrated…that lineup of AAA guys can hit!
The high was 92 today. It was 89 at game time. My granddaughter said it was just as hot in Lakeside today.
El Paso is going to have a heck of a good team this season.
90-92. He looked good for the first couple innings then for whatever reason gave up a few long balls. 3 HR on 3 pitches if I recall correctly.
You never know of these guys are working on something etc and maybe it isn’t the same as what they would throw in a game.
A guy behind me from Canada – said it was as -20 today where he was from!
Also, I think all runs came with 2 outs and he should have been out of inning but for a missed play at 3b. I may be mis-remembering which inning that was.
On a sode note, Glenn Hoffman is staying at my hotel. I’ve seen him coming and going 3 times already. Just strange seeing players / former players in your lobby!
If Preller was scouting either the rays or Red Sox he likely would be looking at starting pitching, perhaps catching as well.
The campy experience maybe coming to an end.
Campy’s usage in ST games has dropped significantly.
By mid to late next week its forecast to hit 105-108 F in valley of the sun. Shattering all-time spring training game records
That’s CBT payroll , actual is much lower
When Arte sells the Angels he will get $4B easily.
It is bizarre to me that it is a mid market club and the team itself is over paid and in shambles, but it could break the team sale price record.
Makes one want to question the shambles narrative, eh?
It’s not bizarre, it’s inflation. Almost all of the 30 teams, if they were sold today would bring in more than the $2.4B that Cohen paid 5 years ago.
Not inflation, increased profitability. These businesses are priced based on their returns on investment. If we want to know why the players and owners go to war with each other every five years, it’s because the sport is raking in the dough.
$2.4B in 2020 dollars is worth almost $3.02B today. So, inflation is a factor, even if it’s not the only one.
It isn’t a factor at all, really. Nobody with billions to invest is going to invest it without a lot of confidence in a return on their investment, because they have many other options for where they can use their money to make more money. We need to understand that sports franchises are multibillion-dollar businesses, not (as some believe) hobbies for rich people.
You’re bringing in aspects that have nothing to do with the post I was responding to, or my response to that post. The initial post suggested that it was bizarre that the price for the Padres was going to be greater than what Cohen paid for the Mets.
The subject, which you’ve chosen to bypass, was the actual market value of the teams. You want to talk reasons for purchasing a team. That’s beside the point.
If you want to ignore the fact that inflation over the past 5 years has increased significantly, fine. If, in your opinion, a difference of $600M in market value due to inflation means nothing, you’re welcome to it. But it’s absurd to think inflation is no factor in price over time.
What? I addressed your point directly, and I can only assume from your response that you aren’t understanding the explanation. Which is: the value of any franchise today has nothing whatsoever to do with what it or any other franchise sold for previously. Its value today is based entirely on the expected return on investment. The franchise values have increased because of their growing profitability, not inflation. If their profitability dropped, so would their resale value. Because that’s how it works. Period. Full stop.
Whether we as fans understand these financial basics, the owners and players sure do. This is what they fight over every five years. So it helps for us to understand them as well.
Two straight seasons with 90 wins equals a team in shambles? Other than one year to dip under the CBT, the Padres just keep spending. Makes you say HMMM to the media narrative, doesn’t it?
A mid market team that just out drew every single team outside of the LA Dodgers and have set 3 straight franchise attendance records.
The Rays sold for 1.7B recently. Over the past 3 years the Padres outdrew the Rays by 6.47m in attendance. To illustrate how big of a number that is, if each fan brings in a $100/gm, that gap in attendance would cover the Padres payroll over those 3 seasons.
Heck, the Padres have outdrawn the Yankees each of the past 3 seasons. They have been 2nd, 3rd, and 2nd in MLB in attendance over those seasons.
Not to mention they get to call an amazing ballpark home with some of the best weather in the country.
As I understand, debt comes off the number. Owners will get sale price minus whatever they owe folks. They aren’t effectively getting $3b.
Padres rank 2nd in MLB attendance right behind the Dodgers and ahead of the NYY.
The revenues are flowing freely into the Padres club every gameday.
“The Padres in Shambles” fiction must have been written by bored reporters during half price happy hour.
How many bidders are from out of the San Diego area? A group from Nashville will happily outbid any locals…
One, Joe Lacob. The others have ties to SD.
Joe Tsai lives in La Jolla. I believe he’s leading another one of the 4 bidding groups.
He owns homes in La Jolla, Vancouver, and Miami, but mainly he lives in NYC in a $190 million penthouse at the top of 220 Central Park South and in one of the most expensive homes in Hong Kong.
It’s only a record because other teams aren’t for sale. When Hal sells the Yanks to a Chinese investor, that will be a record.
And The Chinese investor moves them Bejing
Padres are one of the crown jewel franchises in MLB at this juncture.
Sell out crowds every night even in the middle of the week,
Playoffs competive rosters.
Some rating services rate their home ballpark, Petco Park, as
the best MLB ballpark experience
Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, is widely recognized as the #1 MLB ballpark, consistently topping rankings by USA Today and other publications for its stunning downtown location, superior local food and beer options, and excellent sightlines. Opened in 2004, it is praised for blending modern amenities with a unique, open-air design.
Key Reasons for #1 Ranking
Prime Location: Situated in downtown San Diego, the park is directly connected to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, offering a unique urban vibe.
Unmatched Atmosphere: Features include Gallagher Square, which provides scenic views of the San Diego skyline and a, vibrant, social atmosphere.
Top-Tier Amenities: The park is frequently cited for its high-quality food, local breweries, and pleasant coastal weather.
Accessibility: Located near the Gaslamp Quarter Station, making it highly accessible by public transportation.
Consistent Top Spot
USA Today (For The Win) ranked Petco Park #1 in 2016, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024, frequently calling it the “perfect” ballpark.
CNBC has them valued at 2.1B. (16th in MLB) Lower, by the way, than the White Sox at 2.15B.
(Numbers as of 2025)
Value of a business is what ever the market will bear.
Any media or Internet outlet can value MLB teams
at whatever value they pull out of their hats.
The White Sox are not more valuable than the Padres lol!
That is a “fantasy value”.
The White Sox are in the midst of a 10 year rebuild.
Their roster is below average.
Their attendance and gate revenues are much lower than the Padres.
The White Sox are in a bigger TV market than the Padres, but only the hard core White Sox fans will watch a team that could lose another 100+ games this season.
Value= whatever qualified buyer will pay for an asset at that particular time.
Supply/Demand Factors, limited number of premium sports franchises available.
If I was bidding, the Padres would hold my interest and attention much more than the White Sox.
Clearly, the Padres are seeking and getting bids in the 2.5B to 3B+ range.
I doubt the White Sox would be sold right now for even 2B
unless the buyer is projecting possible future value if and when the team has a dramatic turn around.
WS Ownership should sell the team.
Wasn’t CNBC telling viewers to get into the stock market
right before the last crash cratered stock values and costs investors that took their advice large losses?!
Because nothing screams legitimacy like USA today
They’re really throwing Waldron under the bus lol
Wrecked’um
Waldron and a few others, including JP Sears, could use change of scenery trades.
If the Padres are not going to play those players,
then it might be a better option to package them into a trade deal
to land another, experienced starting pitcher.
The Twins Joe Ryan, if healthy, could also use a change of scenery and would fit nicely in the Padres starting rotation.
Good Luck, @Gwynning!
🤙🏽🍻🤙🏽
If any of the Seidler family is lurking on this thread , I just wanna say, before you make any brash decisions about selling the team, I personally would like to get down to brass tax and talk numbers . Now , I could potentially put down .00017% (or roughly $5k if the figure is $3B) . We could make an arrangement of let’s say ~ .000004% interest with $2000 monthly installments. Simple, traditional 125,000 year loan. Of course I would be open to working out a transitional arrangement to ensure a smooth overhaul of ownership. If this at all moves the needle for you, Siedler family , I’d be happy to connect you with my people. Thanks for your time.
can you connect them to your people if you dont have people?
“Matt Waldron is behind schedule”. That is all.
$3B is about $1B more than previous estimates in value. Shows just how much crazy money is being made by the economic elites.
Matt Waldron is behind schedule due to hemorrhoid surgery but is ramping up now.
_______________________
Preparation H … FTW ⚕️💉👇🔦🔙
Pfff… They’ll be in their Mars mansions inside rainforest biodomes when that comes.
The only question padres fans have is after whoever spends 3b to buy the team…how much will they be willing to spend yearly on payroll.
Yeah I was thinking the same. Too pricey might strap the fun spending. T’was the case when we bought our last home.
The very high wealth of most of the bidders on a sports franchise allows them to spend whatever they deem necessary to win Championships…
High leverage ownership groups like the Mc Courts and John Fisher types should be screened out by the Sellers and MLB.
Poor Waldron!
I still believe his time in the sun will happen, some day
These guys need some Yoga!!
Oblique Strain
Oblique Strain !!