Skip to main content
Inside The Padres

Padres Could Make Major On-Field Addition Following $3.9 Billion Sale: Report

The Padres are internally optimistic payroll will increase after an ownership transfer.
J.P. Hoornstra|
San Diego Padres president and general manager AJ Preller celebrates in the clubhouse following the game against the Chicago White Sox after clinching a playoff berth at Petco Park on Oct. 2, 2022.
San Diego Padres president and general manager AJ Preller celebrates in the clubhouse following the game against the Chicago White Sox after clinching a playoff berth at Petco Park on Oct. 2, 2022. | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Diego Padres

The expected sale of the San Diego Padres to the husband-wife duo of José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones has invited a wave of questions from curious fans.

More than how the cost of a beer at Petco Park might be adjusted for Feliciano and Jones to meet their EBITDA projections, fans want to know if the Padres will be able to add to their player payroll.

So do those within the organization.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday "there is great optimism within the Padres organization that the new owner will loosen what have been tight restrictions on the ability to add payroll."

If general manager A.J. Preller is cleared to add to the team's payroll post-sale, it would follow a typical pattern whenever a transfer of ownership takes place.

The Padres re-signed pitcher Michael King to a $75 million contract last December. The next day, they signed Korean infielder Sung Mun Song to a four-year, $15 million contract. Those two signings comprised the majority of the Padres' offseason outlay.

That might have seemed out of step with the Padres' recent tradition for aggressively filling roster holes in free agency. But teams often shed payroll in advance of a transfer of ownership, so as to minimize the upfront cost to a new owner.

Once the sale is complete, it would make sense that the reins would loosen for Preller to spend more.

As Acee notes, the Padres have significant questions about their starting rotation and would benefit from the financial freedom to target a top starter via trade.

The team was recently linked to free agent right-hander Lucas Giolito as a candidate to take the innings void left when Nick Pivetta landed on the injured list.

Giolito's asking price has been a sticking point for teams outside of San Diego. He represents the easiest path for Feliciano and Jones to prove their financial wherewithal while simultaneously improving the team's chances to win a World Series.

For his part, Preller recently said he hopes that the new owners share at least one other trait with Peter Seidler, the Padres' former owner who passed away in 2023.

"I think the biggest thing that all Padre fans, the Friar Faithful and myself [want] is a group that loves the game of baseball, loves the city of San Diego and wants to bring a winner here," Preller told Jake Garegnani of CBS8 San Diego. "There's a lot of different ways to do that but the biggest thing [about] Peter Seidler, Ron Fowler and that group: they love baseball."

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

Share on XFollow jphoornstra
Home/San Diego Padres News