John Seidler is officially in charge of the Padres.
Wednesday was Seidler's first official day on the job as control person over the franchise. The oldest brother of beloved former owner Peter Seidler, he takes the reins from Eric Kutsenda. Kutsenda became the Padres' control person after Peter Seidler passed away in November 2023.
John has been a minority owner of the franchise since 2012. The Pasadena native is also Chairman and CEO of O'Malley Seidler Partners, LLC and a board member of Rawlings Sporting Goods.
He and his wife Laurie own a home in San Diego.
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Major League Baseball's group of owners voted unanimously in February to approve John Seidler as the control person for the San Diego Padres. That move is official now that he has become the trustee of the Peter Seidler trust.
At the MLB Owners Meetings in Palm Beach, FL, all 29 teams approved John Seidler, the oldest brother of the late Peter Seidler, as the team's control person, granting John substantial influence over the day-to-day operations of the franchise. That result is also a vote of confidence from the rest of the league, showing its comfortability with the Seidler family and how it will run the team.
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Since his passing in November of 2023, Peter's brother Matt Seidler has served as trustee and longtime friend and business partner Eric Kutsenda has acted as chairman, both on an interim basis. John has now assumed both of those positions.
The change in ownership is clouded by the legal tug-of-war currently taking place within the franchise. In early January, Peter's wife Sheel Seidler made public a lawsuit against her brothers-in-law Matt and Robert Seidler, accusing them of breaches of fiduciary duty. She asked a court to prevent John from being named control person and seeking a third party to be named to the position.
Matt and Robert countered by filing a motion to have several of the allegations settled by arbitration. The dispute is still in limbo, but John's appointment atop the franchise is complete.
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