The San Diego Padres will be sold to Jose Feliciano and Kwanza Jones for $3.9 billion, the largest price ever paid for a Major League Baseball team, according to ESPN. The figure far exceeds the $2.4 billion Mets sale in 2020 and is roughly five times the franchise’s 2012 price of $800 million, ESPN reported.
The sale, which will be finalized at this week’s owners meeting, is the latest marker of a transformation that began under the late owner Peter Seidler, according to ESPN. Seidler and general manager A.J. Preller frequently discussed the cycle of hope and disappointment that had defined San Diego sports, Preller told ESPN: “All the time.” The pair set out to change both perception and results even amid industry skepticism about the club’s spending.
Seidler, who died in November 2023, backed a strategy that elevated payroll and prioritized star talent, according to ESPN. The team had one of baseball’s lowest payrolls at about $70 million in 2017 but carried a franchise-high $249 million roster in 2023 and listed payroll at $202 million this year. Seidler never imposed a fixed budget on the front office; instead he asked what was possible and allowed Preller to present options, Preller told ESPN. “He was great to work for in that way,” Preller said.
The shift in investment coincided with a surge in attendance and competitive standing, according to ESPN. In the Padres’ first 53 seasons the club never approached 3 million fans; the team drew 2,987,470 in 2022 and has exceeded that level in each of the past three seasons. Through the first two months of the 2026 season, San Diego averaged 41,557 fans per game, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers among MLB clubs, ESPN reported. Third baseman Manny Machado credited Seidler with changing the franchise, calling the sale “a tribute to him” and saying Seidler “put the players first, but the fans.”
The sale also reflects a broader civic context of lost teams in San Diego, ESPN noted: the NBA’s Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984 and the Chargers relocated after 2017 stadium negotiations. Under Seidler and his baseball leadership, the Padres built what ESPN described as one of the game’s best venues in Petco Park, powered by consistently large, enthusiastic crowds.
