The San Diego Padres are at the center of a family legal dispute, with some speculating that the matter could affect the team both on and off the field. Sheel Seidler, the widow of the late Padres owner Peter Seidler, is suing two of her brothers-in-law, Bob and Matt, in her bid to take control of the team.
Shortly before Sheel’s petition was filed in December, the Padres announced that Peter’s oldest brother, John, would take over as control person.
In her petition filed in a Texas court, Sheel alleges fraud and breach of fiduciary duties, as well as acts of self-dealing, by the two brothers in their capacities as executors of Peter’s estate and trustees of the Seidler Trusts. The complaint also alleges that Sheel is the sole beneficiary of the trust, owns the largest stake in the Padres, holds exclusive rights over the team and should be the next person to control it. It further alleges that Bob and Matt’s actions are part of “efforts to sell, and perhaps relocate, the team, over Sheel’s strident objections.” The complaint also included a handwritten note from Peter, which Sheel claims details his preferred candidates to succeed him as control person, with his wife and children at the top of the list.
Two Sides to the Story
In their response, Bob and Matt shut down the allegations against them, accusing Sheel of being motivated by a pursuit of “control and unlimited money.” The response also states that Peter amended his trust at least seven times after marrying Sheel but never named her as a successor trustee in any of those versions, nor did he ever name her as a control person, implying that he had no intention of having her take over the franchise.
Furthermore, according to a statement by the spokesperson for the Peter Seidler Trust, “In 2020, in connection with Peter’s appointment as Control Person, Sheel agreed in a sworn document that she had no right to be or to designate the Control Person and that she would not interfere with the designated Control Person.”
Fate of the Team
The accusations being raised come just over a year after Peter’s death, but it’s likely that the drama coming to the forefront now is the result of tension and family conflict that has been brewing behind the scenes for years.
While without additional facts, it’s difficult to tell which side will prevail, said Marc M. Stern, a partner in the Private Client Services Group at Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles, who opines that, based on what he’s seen, “both sides should want to reach a prompt settlement, each for their own reasons.” He cites analogous cases with other teams—such as the Baltimore Orioles’ family lawsuit in 2022 that was followed relatively quickly by a sale of the team in March 2024, as examples that “demonstrate that a prompt resolution can be mutually beneficial to all parties involved.”
According to The New York Times, Bob and Matt attempted to keep the behind-the-scenes drama out of the public eye by initiating arbitration proceedings against Sheel back in December. The family feud could have already potentially cost the team a star player. In their response to Sheel’s petition, the brothers claim that the lawsuit prevented the team from recruiting a top prospect, Roki Sasaki, who was turned off by the front-of-house ownership dispute.
“Proving that Sheel’s lawsuit was the single factor that drove Sasaki away seems highly unlikely,” said Stern. However, that’s not to say that the prospect of dragged-out litigation, and the expenses and negative publicity that come along with it, won’t have an eventual negative impact on the team and its fan base, making Stern’s suggested settlement behind closed doors that much more appealing for both parties.
