The Major League Baseball owners have unanimously voted to approve John Seidler as the control person from the Padres’ ownership group, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The situation has been a bit up in the air since the death of Peter Seidler in November of 2023.
As of Peter’s death, minority owner Eric Kutsenda was temporarily the control person while Robert and Matthew Seidler — also brothers of Peter — were trustees of Peter’s trust. Matt Seidler has long been said to not want to run the Padres.
Generally speaking, MLB dictates that the owner with the largest stake in the team is the control person, and that person is generally called “the owner of” that team. In the case of the Padres, Peter Seidler’s trust owns 24% of the Padres and that’s the highest stake.
Recently, Peter Seidler’s widow, Sheel Seidler, filed a lawsuit against Robert and Matthew Seidler in an effort to take control of the Padres.
In a statement to CBS Sports in January, the Peter Seidler trust said the following:
“The complaint filed by Sheel Seidler, the widow of Peter Seidler, is entirely without merit. Peter had a clear estate plan. The plan specifically named three of his nine siblings, with whom he had worked closely for many decades, as successor trustees of his trust and Peter himself prohibited Sheel from ever serving as trustee. The trustee is exclusively responsible for designating the San Diego Padres’ next Control Person. In 2020 in connection with Peter’s appointment as Control Person, Sheel agreed in a sworn document that she had no right to be or to designate the Control Person and that she would not interfere with the designated Control Person. She also stated in May 2024 that John Seidler, Peter’s eldest brother, would be the best Control Person for the Padres. The Padres have already filed an application to Major League Baseball to appoint John.
The fallout from Peter Seidler’s death continues. He had grown into one of baseball’s most beloved owners, and his free spending put the Padres among the top destinations for free agents. They’ve made the playoffs three of the last five years, the only time in franchise history such a run has happened.
Following the death of Peter Seidler, payroll was significantly scaled down from last season, as the Padres entered 2024 ranking 14th in payroll after ranking third in 2023. It was a decrease of roughly $84 million. As things stand for 2025, the Padres do have an increase in payroll back above $200 million — due nearly entirely to raises from players already rostered — and sit ninth in MLB. But they haven’t made any major additions while they’ve lost left fielder Jurickson Profar, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and reliever Tanner Scott, among others, to free agency and they are also rumored to be looking to trade ace Dylan Cease.
Ideally, the approval of John Seidler by the rest of MLB’s owners can help provide some stability for the franchise and the league itself seems to have confidence in the Padres remaining viable in San Diego.
“My understanding is the family wants to keep the team,” commissioner Rob Manfred said (via The Athletic). “There has not been a single word or whisper of relocation in the context of the San Diego Padres.”
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