The Padres New Owner

It was early and I was connecting for my weekly Ben and Woods hit when I got a text from Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal. A very good morning indeed, as news quickly spread to Padres fans in San Diego and all across Major League Baseball. The Padres are reportedly being sold to Jose E. Feliciano Jr and his wife, Kwanza Jones, for a staggering $3.9 billion. You can read the story here. Jared was kind enough to join us on MartyTimeTV and the Section 1904 Podcast and provided detail on his report and explained how Jose Feliciano Jr is personally buying the Padres. Him, not his Private Equity firm - Clearlake Capital - and why that’s important. Things are not so great for the owners of the London club at the moment. Should Feliciano Jr be judged by the current climate at Chelsea FC and RC Strasbourg and the fan backlash expected this weekend or will ownership here be different? We also learned important background information about Feliciano Jr and his wife and their plans to move much of their family philanthropy to San Diego after the acquisition becomes official. Lots to like and easy to hear similarities to Peter and Sheel Seidler. Is this all a Trojan Horse for Clearlake or some other Private Equity company to come through the door at some point and break the Padres into parts for profit? Maybe. Maybe not. As Jared Diamond said, “it’s too early to be pessimistic”. We’ve been through some things in San Diego. Here’s hoping the next chapter in Padres history picks up where the previous one left off. Maybe Peter’s legacy will, ironically, move forward once the Seidler Bros sell the team. Time will tell. Enjoy today’s show and if you’d like to watch this conversation, click here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dsmithshow.substack.com