Former Executive Explains Why Padres’ $3.9 Billion Sale Could Be ‘Problematic’ For MLB

Did the Padres' $3.9 billion sale raise the bar too high, too fast?

Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels (left) and assistant general manager Thad Levine (middle) and senior executive vice president Jim Sundberg talk before the game against the Mexico City Red Devils on March 28, 2013. | Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres recently finalized a sale that transfers control of the franchise from the Seidler family to a new ownership group led by private equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife, artist, investor and entrepreneur Kwanza Jones.

The $3.9 billion sale price is a record for a Major League Baseball team, easily surpassing the $2.4 billion that hedge fund manager Steve Cohen paid to acquire the New York Mets in 2020. It also marks a nearly five-fold increase from the $800 million that a group led by Ron Fowler spent to acquire the Padres from John Moores in 2012.

That's a key metric in MLB's Manhattan offices, according to one former executive and colleague of Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller.

Thad Levine, speaking on his "Rosters to Rings" podcast, said Manfred "is very attentive to the aspiration that each of these franchises sells for more than what the previous one did, to demonstrate there’s this continuous upswing of the valuation of his markets."

The Padres, he suggested, might have raised the bar higher than most teams can aspire to reach.

The sale of the Padres is complete.*

*Pending MLB approval pic.twitter.com/ToYevw1sZh

— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) May 2, 2026

"I think it’s going to be a little bit problematic," Levine said, "because those franchises in Minnesota, Washington and Anaheim who may be dabbling with being on the market have not demonstrated the ability to reach these heights that San Diego just did. So I think it cuts both ways.”

Angels owner Arte Moreno announced he would explore selling the team in August 2022, saying it was “the right time” after long consideration. By January he changed his mind and pulled the team off the market.

The family that owns the Twins, for whom Levine worked from 2017-24, announced in October 2024 they would explore selling the franchise. In August 2025, the Pohlads abruptly ended the sale process and decided to keep the team.

The Lerner family, led by Ted Lerner’s heirs after his death, announced they would explore a potential sale of the Washington Nationals in April 2022. Nearly three years later, the Lerner family ended the sale process and decided to keep the team.

The Padres have amenities few other teams can match. San Diego had the second highest attendance in 2025 with 3.4 million. Petco Park offers a nearly year-round hosting site by virtue of San Diego's perpetually sunny weather.

"There would be a number of owners who would love to sell in the high-$3 billion valuation range," Levine said. "I think what we’ve seen between the Minnesota Twins coming out to market, the Washington Nationals, and the Anaheim Angels — and none of those three teams selling — is that not all teams are finding as favorable a buyer as the San Diego Padres have."

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