Jeff Moorad’s tenure as chief executive officer of the Padres has ended. Team President Tom Garfinkel will become the baseball’s club’s CEO on an interim basis.
Moorad’s installment purchase of the franchise from John Moores encountered a roadblock in January when a scheduled vote on the approval of his investment group was dropped from the agenda of an owners meeting in Arizona.
Issues Moorad initially described as “technical” proved to be more than that, and the prospect of his gaining controlling interest in the club met with stern resistance from a group of owners spearheaded by Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Ken Kendrick, managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Earlier this month, with the Padres’ ownership situation again scheduled for discussion at a meeting of baseball’s ownership committee and executive council, Moorad withdrew his application, presumably anticipating an election he could not win.
John Moores and his partners retain controlling interest in the club, with a 51 percent stake. Moorad’s group owns 49 percent.
According to a statement released by the Padres, Moorad will remain as vice chairman of the club and will be responsible for overseeing the Padres’ involvement in the development of Fox Sports San Diego.
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1. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: March 22, 2012 at 07:21 PM (#4087087)Issues Moorad initially described as “technical” proved to be more than that, and the prospect of his gaining controlling interest in the club met with stern resistance from a group of owners spearheaded by Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Ken Kendrick, managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Is there anyone who has been following this more closely who can explain what the issues were? Is it just that the other owners don't like Moorad? I honestly thought he already owned a majority of the team.
A few stories have said MLB and/or owners are afraid that Moorad's group would use a lot of the new TV money to pay down the sale-related debt, but beyond that, details have been few and far between. As recently as Jan. or Feb., approval of this deal was supposedly a formality.
Interestingly, John Moores reportedly was so angry about the approval being delayed that he (temporarily) voted against Bud Selig's contract extension. But now, with at least a half-dozen billionaires losing out on the Dodgers and with the Mets' situation a lot more stable, Moores could end up benefitting from this (i.e., he could end up with a better sale price than he had negotiated with Moorad, unless this deal is resurrected somehow).
It could be how he behaved as an agent. I'm sure not all agents are created equal.
Absolutely, but it seems like there'd be an obvious example or two of Moorad crossing a line, etc., but none of the stories I've seen have mentioned any specifics.
Jon Heyman just said on Twitter than John Moores had "turned against Moorad" over the past few weeks, which couldn't have helped Moorad's cause. The spike in MLB team sale prices might have caught Moores' eye; I believe his deal with Moorad was negotiated three (?) years ago. Or, perhaps Moores sees the writing on the wall with the Moorad deal and doesn't want to spend two more years in limbo, especially with some failed Dodgers bidders likely to see the Padres as a nice consolation prize.
Very. I wonder if it was because Moorad left Arizona for San Diego in the first place or because the two reportedly battled for over two years thereafter over the value of Moorad's 8 percent share of the Diamondbacks (which Kendrick bought back).
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