The Padres are about to get a new owner and a record-breaking $3.9 billion price tag. But according to the guy currently running the show, that check hasn’t been written yet and it won’t change how they handle the next few weeks.
John Seidler, the Padres chairman, told Dennis Lin of The Athletic that the looming sale changes nothing about what happens at the trade deadline. Said Seidler: “It will be business as usual at the trade deadline. Regardless of when the transaction closes, all decisions will be made in the best interests of the Padres.”
That’s a pretty direct message. Especially for a team sitting at 48-48 heading into the All-Star break, 12.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. But here’s the thing — they’re only 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race. That’s close enough that general manager AJ Preller, a guy who’s never met a trade he didn’t at least think about making, has some real choices to make.
Preller’s dilemma at the deadline
This is where it gets interesting. The Padres have made the playoffs in four of the last six seasons. That’s legit. But in their last two trips they haven’t gotten past the NLDS. So they’re good, but not good enough. And Preller has a history of being aggressive — sometimes too aggressive — when he smells a chance to upgrade.
If they buy, they need some pop. Another bat. Maybe another arm. Something to push them past the Wild Card scrum and into a real playoff run. If they sell — and that’s a real option if they stumble out of the break — they’d be signaling that this core needs retooling. But selling when you’re that close to a playoff spot is a hard sell to a fanbase that’s been waiting for a title since forever.
The takeaway here is that Seidler is making it clear the sale process won’t dictate baseball decisions. That matters. Sometimes when a franchise is being sold, the interim front office gets skittish about making big moves. They don’t want to tie the new owner’s hands. But Seidler is basically saying: do what you gotta do.
New ownership will eventually take over and steer this thing forward. But for now, Preller has the green light. The question is whether he’ll use it to go all-in or start thinking about next year.
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