Big-spending Padres have made themselves into one of MLB’s ‘haves’

The Padres, who play in Major League Baseball’s fifth-smallest media market, are taking in so much money that they expect to for the first time ever be a payor into the league’s revenue sharing program.

“I think it’s a validation of the approach that if you invest in the team on the field and you create a compelling and winning product, the fans will respond,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner said last week. “I think that was always in the forefront of Peter’s mind when he initiated that strategy.”

Padres Chairman Peter Seidler declined to comment this week. His thinking is that no one wants to hear him talk about money.

Seidler instead is putting his money where his mouth is.

The Padres will begin spring training this week in Peoria, Ariz.— the first of four report dates is Monday — with a payroll that ranks third in Major League Baseball behind only the two New York teams, the Mets and Yankees.

The Padres’ payroll ranked last in 2011, 27th in 2017 and 29th in 2019.

While teams do not make their finances public, multiple sources confirmed that based on projected 2023 revenue, the Padres anticipate contributing in ’24 to the fund that helps subsidize teams in smaller markets (clubs that due to their location ostensibly don’t generate as much revenue).