MLB commissioner says Padres ownership transfer will get ‘done'

PHILADELPHIA - Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that the sale of the Padres will get "done."

His comments on the state of the Padres' ownership transfer were consistent with what others familiar with the process have indicated in recent weeks.

"It's a question of getting investment commitments, documentation to be put in a condition that it's ready for a club vote," Manfred said.

According to people familiar with the process, the ownership group has been finalized and the Padres sale is awaiting passage through various ownership committees before it goes to a vote of all 29 other team owners. One of those sources said Tuesday that the team expects approval by owners in the coming weeks. Approval is contingent on 22 of the 29 owners (75%) voting in favor.

The Padres announced in early May that the Seidler family had entered into an agreement to transfer control of the franchise to a group led by José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones. The deal valued the club at a record $3.9 billion.

Feliciano and Jones are expected to hold a stake of around 45%, with several people and entities, including some current stakeholders, making up the rest of the new ownership group.

Feliciano and Jones have been kept apprised of club business, multiple people have said in recent weeks. Those people and others in the organization have said the Padres have the financial flexibility to make additions at the trade deadline, which is Aug. 3.

"It will be business as usual at the trade deadline,” team chairman John Seidler said in a statement on Tuesday. “Regardless of when the transaction closes, all decisions will be made in the best interests of the Padres."

The initial timeline for the sale to be complete had owners potentially voting in June.

That proved to be ambitious given the multiple parties involved and the need to find new investors.

The timing of the announcement also appears to have played into the perception that the process has lagged. According to multiple people who have been involved in team sales, the machinations that have taken place over the past few months generally occur before such an announcement.

Manfred's comments alluded to that as well.

"When people in the public become aware of the sale - this one was earlier, quicker than what sometimes happens," Manfred said. "Usually, it gets public when it's a little closer to final documents. But (the sale) will get done."

Labor update

Manfred and MLB Players Association executive director Bruce Meyer both declared on Tuesday that baseball is enjoying a wonderful period of success.

And then they explained why the other side is trying to ruin everything.

As the sides head toward a Dec. 1 expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, team owners' proposal for a salary cap is at the center of the differences between the sides.

"They’ve chosen to put on the bargaining table in the year 2026 something that they know our players and our union has fought against for decades," Meyer said. "That’s a choice. If they do a lockout, that’ll be a choice. That’ll be an owner choice."

Said Manfred: "It has always puzzled why people think because one side of a negotiation says I’m opposed to this that ought to take it off the table."

Virtually everyone in the game is expecting a lockout to commence once the deadline for a new agreement passes, and they are bracing for it to last into (and perhaps through) the 2027 season.

Both men declared that they are optimists.

"We will do a deal eventually here," Meyer said. "We are still in the early stages. I remain hopeful and optimistic that we will get there, and hopefully sooner rather than later."

However, their words Tuesday provided a glimpse at the gulf between the sides.

Owners say a salary cap is needed to close the gap between the richest teams and those, largely from smaller markets, who claim to not have the resources to compete. The league points to the Dodgers' payroll (approximately $420 million including competitive balance tax penalties) being more than five times as high as that of the Marlins (30th, at $83 million).

"It defies human experience to ask a fan to think that the bottom end of that gap has the same opportunity to win as the top end," Manfred said. "… Our fans in a number of our markets are telling us - better than half of them - is there’s a lack of competitive balance in the game, and everything we propose is directed at addressing that fan concern."

Meyer contends that, too, is the choice of some team owners.

"The owners, many of them, want a system that not only guarantees their profits, not only increases their franchise values, but essentially is a form of … subsidizing mediocrity, owner protection, protection from competition," the union chief said. "Salary cap is the ultimate excuse not to compete. It’s the ultimate excuse for an owner to say, ‘Gee, I would like to make the team better, but I can’t.' … Don’t believe what you hear from the owner who’s complaining, ‘I don’t have the resources to compete.' They all have the resources to compete."

Miller hitches ride

A team with numerous All-Stars usually charters a plane to get players and their families to the game. When a team doesn’t have as many participants, they make other arrangements.

On Sunday, Mason Miller left San Diego with about 30 members of the team the Padres had just played at Petco Park.

The Padres' lone All-Star joined almost 30 members of the Blue Jays' traveling contingent for the Sunday night flight from San Diego to Philadelphia for the All-Star game.

The Blue Jays' appearance in the World Series last year meant manager John Schneider is managing the American League team, and members of the team's coaching and support staffs are also here.

"Just a great kid," Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement said of Miller. "Great guy."

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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 10:52 AM.