The group that includes former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley can become official owners of the San Diego Padres as soon as August 16, when Major League Baseball owners meet in Denver, according to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
O’Malley’s sons, Kevin and Brian, and his nephews, Peter and Tom Seidler, “are expected to become ‘hands-on’ owners while assuming many of the club’s business, operational and community leadership roles,” Center confirms. San Diego businessman Ron Fowler and golfer Phil Mickelson provides the local accent for the ownership group, notes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com.
The new owners are paying $800 million for the Padres and a 21 percent stake in Fox Sports San Diego, Bloom says.
Anonymous
I read somewhere that the value of all MLB franchises went up 25 percent when the Dodgers were sold for $2.15 billion. This is evidence that that statement is true.
Anonymous
I know that btimmer feels that he is the only one allowed to hold grudges, but I am going to guess that Dodger-Padre deals would be a thing of the past. Although not clear to me who would have a grudge against whom in this situation, I recall that things seemed a bit difficult when Buzzy headed south on 5.
Anonymous
The Dodgers didn’t make many deals with the Padres at first because Walter O’Malley didn’t want it to appear that he was going to turn the Padres into his own version of the Kansas City A’s with the Yankees in the 1950s.
veryolddodgerfan
well only 3 trades ever made between the 2 teams and those all had asterisks. so it will be business as usual. i believe it was one of the o’malleys that told his gm never to trade with the padres.
Anonymous
Dodger-Padre deals are already a thing of the past. The Padres have been extremely reluctant to trade within the division for years now. As much as we would have liked to land AGon or Peavy…
David Farinella
WARNING, GOLFER JOKE COMING UP: The inclusion of Lefty in the ownership group means the Padres will always have mediocre talent and never live up to even its promise.
Jon Weisman
Do people still say that about Mickelson? I’m no hardcore golf fan, but that joke seems pretty dated.
Also, if he had mediocre talent, wouldn’t that mean he did live up to his promise?
David Farinella
People do say that still. I’m saying that he’s not even a mediocre talent, though that’s obviously an exaggeration since he’s won multiple times and a handful of majors.
veryolddodgerfan
Cmon Mickelson is a fantastic talent. maybe he hasn’t played better than Tiger Woods or as good as people think he should (which means winning all the titles) but he has quite a record and one of the most naturally talented golfers of all time.
Anonymous
What’s his WHIP?
veryolddodgerfan
40 tour wins, 4 majors. the wins put him at 9th all time. where’s tink when you need him. hate to use stats.
veryolddodgerfan
i know money is relevant. but 59 million still has a nice ring to it.
Phil Mickelson has won $59,677,400, made 350 cuts and has placed in the top three 82 times. He placed in the top 3 19.40% of the time, has won 38 PGA titles and missed 72 cuts.
Anonymous
Yes, but those are just old-fashioned basic stats, and everybody knows they don’t mean anything. What do the advanced stats say? :)
veryolddodgerfan
he’s over rated.
Anonymous
Phil’s irons worked for him but couldn’t compensate for woods.
Terry Pruett
It will be good to have the family back in baseball…I have long felt that the Padres were a sleeping giant (no pun intended). Baseball is more fun when the Dodgers, Giants, and Padres are all good at the same time…it hasn’t often happened. Hell…maybe it’s never happened :)
Anyway, last nights game was frustrating and pathetic. However, if I can get Matt Kemp up there against a lefty with 2 men on (TWICE!) in every game, I’ll gladly take my chances. No one comes through every time.
Anonymous
2004 division race?
Anonymous
I wish the O’Malleys, whom I respect, had acquired the A’s instead. Lew Wolff makes McCourt look like the poster boy for enlightened ownership.
Anonymous
Check out what JHJ says: http://www.fastcompany.com/pics/flipping-burgers-fame-mcdonalds-starters#6
Anonymous
Don’t you wish the O’Malleys could have just gone back 20 years and un-sold the Dodgers to Fox? Would have saved us all a lot of heartbreak. And think how much printer’s ink there would be still left in the world, not to mention unused pixels!
Anonymous
I really see the FOX ownership as part of a generally corporate yet sleazy phase in baseball.
Many guys were on roids. I basically ignored the dodgers for all of the Piazza era.
Anonymous
Unlike all the other times when there were corporations that owned baseball teams. Or times when one owner would own two teams. Or times when the “family” owners conspired to keep players in a perpetual state of indentured servitude. Or when nice family owners packed up and moved teams to different locations. Or decided that people who weren’t white couldn’t play, because it didn’t look right.
The only time when baseball hasn’t had some element of sleaze for the purposes of making money may have ended sometime in the 1840s.
Baseball is a game. Baseball is a business. You have to buy in to some level of hypocrisy.
Anonymous
I don’t disagree at all. I just thought the Canseco-Bonds roid era was kind of distasteful compared to the previous and subsequent eras. Baseball was basically pro wrestling in that era, mullets and roids.
Anonymous
I wouldn’t go quite that far, but the fact that the 1988 Series winner stiffed a bunch of roided abusers has always a been a source of pride.
Anonymous
It wasn’t all bad. Never liked Barry, but there was something kind of awesome about him lining directly into that RF porch at the Phone. I don’t think it has happened once since he retired.
Anonymous
This presupposes that no one on the 1988 Dodgers took any PEDs.
Anonymous
I always suspected Alfredo Griffin.
Anonymous
Nobody has mentioned Danny Heep’s name in a while.
Anonymous
>> Nobody has mentioned Danny Heep’s name in a while.
Hey, remember Danny Heep? (Who?)
Anonymous
Perhaps it explains Mike Davis’ drop off after leaving Oakland.
Anonymous
In response to a reader question, Gnats beat writer Henry Schulman answered that B*rry was the rudest Gnat ever. As if that surprises anybody.
Anonymous
Fox ownership was a catastrophe that led to even worse catastrophes.
Anonymous
Kick in the head.
Jon Weisman
The British commentary on the Feck dive takes the cake bit.ly/QHgDyE
Anonymous
I guess these Olympics are now officially Feckless.
veryolddodgerfan
WBB i can see you’ll be breaking rule 8 for the millionth time with brandon League. why do you call him a very bad relief pitcher?
Anonymous
I haven’t seen him post that even once.
Looking at the numbers, Brandon League was a pretty good relief pitcher in 2011, and is currently indeed a very bad relief pitcher in 2012. A WHIP of 1.500 with the Mariners and 2.000 with the Dodgers speak for themselves, dontcha think?
Anonymous
In TWO innings of work!
Anonymous
Make that 46.2 innings of work – 44.2 innings of work at Seattle, and 2 with the Dodgers.
If the Dodger work were the only thing to look at, then it would be a matter of small data. Unfortunately, it’s not. This year, he’s pretty darn bad.
veryolddodgerfan
I wouldn’t call him pretty darn bad. I’d say he’s got nasty stuff but currently he doesn’t know where it’s going. But he’s known where it’s going before. sort of like Hanley was a good hitter before and now he’s not. but of course not to that degree.
Anonymous
I doubt it’s realistic to expect him to improve as a Dodger.
veryolddodgerfan
WBB is all over the Internet
Anonymous
But Rule 8 violations only apply here.
And here.
And here. :)
Anonymous
While relief pitcher stats can be notoriously misleading, five losses in relief should have been a real red flag. But the biggest red flag had been simply watching his lack of command with Seattle (now being reprised with the Dodgers). In a just world, he would be a Gnat.
Alex Chavez
but he’s a reliever, a roller-coaster, so naturally he’ll dominate next season =)
Hope we have him for next season.
Anonymous
Speaking of middle relievers with multi-year contracts, any word on the Guerrier rehab?
Anonymous
Or Hawk?
Anonymous
Per Yahoo, Guerrier is scheduled to go to the AZ training facility Aug 10; Hawksworth was shut down from his rehab assignment for two weeks after experiencing shoulder soreness July 2, no other news noted.
The big news, of course, is that Lilly isn’t doing so well, and may be out for the year, as I’ve read elsewhere, not on Yahoo.
I wouldn’t count on seeing any of them this season, but there’s nothing really official to that effect yet.
Anonymous
Or Hawk’s sister for that matter?
Anonymous
League is arbitration-eligible for 2013, per B-R.
Anonymous
He’s just as likely to be worse.
Anonymous
>> the biggest red flag had been simply watching his lack of command with Seattle (now being reprised with the Dodgers).
League walked 19 batters in 44.2 IP for Seattle, but has not yet walked a batter in his four appearances for the Dodgers. Unfortunately, he’s allowed 4 H in his 2 IP.
veryolddodgerfan
yup. he’s got nasty stuff but unfortunately the nasty stuff doesn’t go over the play. the non-nasty stuff does because he gets behind in the account and the batters easily hit that stuff.
Anonymous
Sounds correctable with a good pitching coach. Honeycutt is well respected , so we’ll see. I personally feel Honeycutt encourages too much nibbling on the corners so for a guy with control problems he may not be the answer.
Anonymous
Anecdotal, but whenever I’ve seen him he’s been all over the place, and seems to lack confidence.
Anonymous
Regarding the unfortunate dive by the German Feck, unlike the other 99.99999 percent of the world’s population, he can always say that he was an Olympian. That is no mean accomplishment.
Anonymous
And, despite his failure to win a medal, he will be widely remembered.
Anonymous
Rosie Ruiz is remembered too.
Anonymous
Victorino LF, Hairston 3B, Kemp CF, Ethier RF, Ramirez SS, Loney 1B, Cruz 2B, AJ Ellis C, Harang P
Anonymous
Hey, Puig went 3 for 4 with another tater last night. He loves taters! :)
Anonymous
Yeah, but his fielding percentage is only .833. LOL
Anonymous
I would hope O’Malley’s first piece of business would be go get new uniforms for the Padres and second would be to bring in the fences about 35 feet. Does he come up with something like Padre Pies and hope it becomes as popular as the Dodger Dog?
Anonymous
Padre pups?
I can’t or the life of me understand why Dodger dogs are so popular. They are, objectively, not very good, even as hot dogs go. Is it just rooting interest that makes people love them so? To me, they’re thin, flavorless amalgamations of cow lips and pig hooves. I can think of at least 10 other major league parks that have better dogs, and a few minor league ones as well.
Anonymous
Never been to a stadium to have a hot dog, though I always have one when I go. Luckily, in DC we have Ben’s Chili Bowl, which has to survive outside the park.
Anonymous
Do you live in the District, or in the suburbs? When I taught a semester at GW, I lived in Adams Morgan, which I really enjoyed.
Anonymous
Just north of Madam’s Organ in Mount Pleasant (and just around the corner from where Big Train lived!)
Anonymous
I meant to say Mt Pleasant, but it didn’t come to mind. I was just half a block from the zoo, and walked to work every morning through Rock Creek Park as far as Georgetown, where I would cut over via surface streets.
Anonymous
Padre Pups, that should work. I eat a hot dog about every other year and prefer Costco’s Hebrew National brand. I also agree the ingredients are gross and the taste is probably artificial. Here’s burping with you SaMoDodger.
KT
No cow lips…I worked for Farmer Johns back in 78 for a year. Actually worked in the same room they made Dodger Dogs
Anonymous
Horse lips?
Anonymous
Or at least dump the camouflage (or make it green to match the field).
Jon Weisman
NPUT
Jim Hitchcock
Misty May Treanor is up to 3 (or maybe more, missed the first match) post game `Go Dodgers!’