With Peter Seidler potentially stepping away, fans are asking if the Padres can sustain their rise or if a new era could upend everything.NL

The second anniversary of the passing of San Diego Padres chairman Peter Seidler comes the day after his family announced their intention to sell the team he so passionately loved. This shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone who follows the Padres closely. Despite the stated preference by Mr. Seidler that the team remain in his family for generations to come, it seemed obvious that after his death there were no family members that shared that passion.

The Padres are a valuable franchise. They are in an unprecedented era of success, mostly due to the efforts and financial investment of Peter Seidler and the other owners. Major League Baseball made it clear that they did not approve of the financial reach employed to pull his team out of their bottom-dweller status and push them into a Top-10 franchise in baseball. He took out loans, made capital calls on his ownership group and otherwise aspired above his rank to improve his team. Other owners called him out for overspending and making them look bad.

In January of this year, a lawsuit was filed by his widow, Sheel Seidler, accusing his brothers of fraud and other violations of trust that showed there was no unity or forward vision for the team. The timing of this announcement may have been unexpected, but it looked inevitable in January when the rift and infighting came to light.

The organization committed to multiple expensive and long-term contracts that weigh them down monetarily for years to come. All of this, Peter Seidler believed, could be justified by winning on the field and turning his team into a money-maker at Petco Park. To that aim, the ballpark has been turned into a profit-making bonanza and attendance has skyrocketed over the past three seasons.

This allows the Padres to continue to function above their market level in regard to yearly payroll. The debt incurred to get here remains and will be carried over to the new owners. This issue, and the bloated contracts they will inherit, are the only issues that could be seen as a roadblock to a sale.

How to go forward?

It is obvious the Padres have been successful since the passing of Mr. Seidler. They have had two seasons of 90 and 90-plus wins. But the long-term success of his approach is the sticking point. In our current era, only billionaires or a group of wealthy investors can afford a sports team. In reality, owning a team should be a hobby for the rich. If it is the way a group or individual supports their family, it will be a disaster. Profit-making in sports works only in large markets where huge profits are possible. That is not what is going on here.

The Padres, at best, are a mid-market franchise. That is true only with the maximizing of their profits with attendance, marketing and profiting from the ballpark. Any owner going forward has to go into it knowing that they will have to be happy with a hobby. All profits will have to go back into the team for it to have success.

If anyone buys this team in order to make a profit, we are all in big trouble as Padres fans. This organization has to be a passion for whoever owns it. That is why the remaining Seidler family members are not keeping the team. This family is historically invested in Los Angeles and the Dodgers. Even if you believe what they say and accept them as converts to San Diego and the Padres, the passion was all Peter Seidler. With the familial infighting and monetary disadvantages, someone would have to be like him to even attempt to make this work.

So, where does that leave us?

Padres fans will most likely have a long road ahead before we know who will be the new owner of the team. This franchise is owned by multiple people. Do they all sell or just the Seidler’s? Does the lawsuit have to be settled before this can occur?

Answers will come in time, but the bottom line seems to be that if we have any hope of continuing the success brought about by Peter Seidler, the team will need an owner that shares his passion for a competitive organization that can win a World Series. If that is not the case, we are in jeopardy of returning to the past when the Padres excelled in mediocrity.

There is no doubt we all owe Peter Seidler a huge debt of gratitude for making the Padres relevant and building an organization that can hope to keep that relevance going. We just need someone with a fraction of his passion and love for the community to step forward.