- 3,953
- 19
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2004
FINALLY......
Mark Cuban, buy this team now.
http://www3.signonsandieg...res-confirms-sale/?padres
[h2]Padres experienced relative success in Moores Era[/h2]
Tom Krasovic (Contact)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Padres owner John Moores gave former president Jimmy Carter a tour of Petco Park on opening day.
John Moores presided over four Padres trips to the postseason, a World Series appearance and the construction of a downtown ballpark.
But now, coming off a 99-loss season and in the midst of a complicated divorce and division of assets that includes the team, he has decided to put thePadres up for sale.
Moores made it official Monday, confirming last week's Union-Tribune report that he has hired Goldman Sachs to identify buyers for theballclub.
Whether Moores sells all, part or none remains to be seen, but the Padres are in play for the first time since late 1994 when Moores put up about $80million to become the club's primary owner.
"My strong desire is to stay involved because the last decade and a half has been a terrific experience," Moores told mlb.com, the Web site ofMajor League Baseball. "But I have no idea how long this is going to take or how it's going to turn out. I don't know at this point what thecombination will be and whether I'll be involved in it."
Moores hasn't responded to interview requests from the Union-Tribune for several months.
An executive with another club told the Union-Tribune last week that the process of exploring ownership will be "quite lengthy" becausebaseball Commissioner Bud Selig is against "a distress sale" of the Padres.
Moores and his wife, Becky, are going through a divorce after 44 years of marriage. They own 90 percent of the team, and because of community property lawsin California, Becky shares 50 percent of that asset.
One potential complicating factor is that some ownership shares are preferred and others are not, creating different valuations not easily resolved.
The Padres are not the first asset being put up for sale by John and Becky Moores. Other property, including an estate near Pebble Beach, is on themarket.
Moores told mlb.com that "there's a cooperative process between me and Becky ongoing now through Goldman Sachs."
Goldman Sachs has been involved in the sale of several MLB teams.
Padres CEO Sandy Alderson reiterated yesterday that he doesn't foresee a change of ownership structure that would affect the club's payroll for2009, which could be close to half of last year's Opening Day payroll of about $73 million.
"Simply stated," Alderson said, "I'd like to see it play out to John's satisfaction. I think his comments probably today reiteratehis desire to stay involved. I just expect to be supportive of the process. I am sure that we on the staff will be involved to some extent, but that's tobe determined."
In an April assessment of team valuations, Forbes magazine pegged the Padres' value at $385 million, which ranked 19th among 30 teams.
For the 2007 season, the team had operating income estimated at $23.6 million on revenue of $167 million. However, debt service on Petco Park cut into theteam's profit.
Prospective owners will be studying a Padres franchise that has $225 million in debt, roughly half of which is locked in at an 8 percent interest rate thatcannot be pre-paid.
Petco Park, which opened in 2004, anchors the Padres to San Diego through 2032. Other Padres assets include an $8 million facility in the Dominican Republicthat recent signees such as Venezuelan pitcher Adis Portillo described as the best of its kind.
Adding to the club's appeal to prospective owners, future player payrolls are bereft of bloated contracts, such as those given to Phil Nevin, RyanKlesko and Jeff Cirillo, that had hampered the front office.
As when Moores bought them, the Padres are coming off a terrible season. The 2008 club went 63-99 and finished last, which, along with the recession andreports of a shrinking payroll, has the club projecting an attendance drop of some 400,000 to 500,000 from more than 2.4 million last season.
In late 1994, Moores bought low. The Padres were coming off a 47-70 shortened season and baseball was mired in a labor stalemate that lasted until thespring 1995.
But Moores' timing was good in many regards. A trade orchestrated by General Manager Randy Smith that would bring future All-Stars Ken Caminiti andSteve Finley needed only his OK in December 1994. Moores also inherited a strong cast of inexpensive but productive pitchers headed by Trevor Hoffman, AndyAshby and Joey Hamilton, plus a $21 million payroll that he would double within three years.
From 1995 to 1998, the Padres prospered under Moores. The club in 1996 won its first National League West title since 1984. In 1998, the Padres reached theWorld Series, then gained public approval for a new ballpark that, despite delays caused by litigation, opened downtown in 2004.
The Padres won two more NL West titles, in 2005-06, giving them four under Moores - three more than the franchise had won in under previous owners sincejoining the league as an expansion team in 1969.
The intradivisional competition was much stronger in the 1970s, and the NL West was pared from seven teams to four when Moores took over. But for afranchise that still has the worst overall record in the NL since 1969, the Moores Era has coincided with unprecedented success on many levels.
"I think John's legacy is that he took a franchise that was in complete disarray - when he bought it, it was probably the worst franchise in majorleague baseball - and he pumped money into it, brought a respectable team to the city, then put a lot of his own money into building a new ballpark that isterrific for San Diego," said Bob Vizas, a former Padres legal adviser and CEO who worked for the club from 1999 to 2003.
Moores has said he injected close to $100 million to cope with ballpark delays and meet cash calls.
The club had anticipated a $15 million cash call from Moores in 2009, but that is in doubt and may be among the factors in slashing payroll.
Moores' baseball interests also have merged with those of his construction firm, JMI Inc. Projects included hotel and condo development near Petco and aspring-training facility in Goodyear, Ariz., that JMI is building for the Cleveland Indians. The Padres also have pushed for baseball to become prominent inChina, another potential market for JMI.
In 1998, amid contract negotiations between the Padres and ace pitcher Kevin Brown, player agent Scott Boras asserted that San Diego's voters handed atreasure chest to the Padres and Moores when they approved funding for a downtown ballpark, asserting that JMI stood to gain a billion dollars from downtowndevelopment.
"If that were an essay," Moores said at the time, "it would get a C-minus."
Moores revisited the subject with mlb.com recently.
"The club owns a couple of buildings down there, but I'm not sure a buyer would want them - it's not clear," Moores said. "This was ahuge amount of risk. My first preference would've been to develop nothing, but that simply wasn't possible. It's a process that's ongoing, andit's very difficult for me to say that on balance we've made a lot of money. But the notion that we've made billions of dollars is simply made outof whole cloth."
As the club has made known its intent to cut its payroll since the end of the season, Moores has increasingly been the target of fan criticism.
It has not been uncommon for teams to cut payroll, sometimes drastically, before putting a team up for sale to make the bottom line more attractive to apotential buyer. In baseball, it's known as a "fire sale" and it happened with the Padres after the 1992 season.
The team, owned by a group headed by Tom Werner, traded stars Gary Sheffield, Fred McGriff and Bruce Hurst, among others. In 1992, the Padres had finished82-80, in third place in the NL West. In 1993, the team was 61-101 and finished in last place.
It also happened in Miami with the Florida Marlins. After owner Wayne Huizenga's team won the World Series in 1997, he dumped such stars as pitcherKevin Brown (to the Padres), Sheffield, Robb Nen, Charles Johnson and Moises Alou. Huizenga sold the club to John Henry in 1998, the same year the Marlinsbecame the first team to lose 100 games the year after winning the World Series.
Mark Cuban, buy this team now.
http://www3.signonsandieg...res-confirms-sale/?padres
[h2]Padres experienced relative success in Moores Era[/h2]
Tom Krasovic (Contact)
Monday, December 15, 2008
John Moores presided over four Padres trips to the postseason, a World Series appearance and the construction of a downtown ballpark.
But now, coming off a 99-loss season and in the midst of a complicated divorce and division of assets that includes the team, he has decided to put thePadres up for sale.
Moores made it official Monday, confirming last week's Union-Tribune report that he has hired Goldman Sachs to identify buyers for theballclub.
Whether Moores sells all, part or none remains to be seen, but the Padres are in play for the first time since late 1994 when Moores put up about $80million to become the club's primary owner.
"My strong desire is to stay involved because the last decade and a half has been a terrific experience," Moores told mlb.com, the Web site ofMajor League Baseball. "But I have no idea how long this is going to take or how it's going to turn out. I don't know at this point what thecombination will be and whether I'll be involved in it."
Moores hasn't responded to interview requests from the Union-Tribune for several months.
An executive with another club told the Union-Tribune last week that the process of exploring ownership will be "quite lengthy" becausebaseball Commissioner Bud Selig is against "a distress sale" of the Padres.
Moores and his wife, Becky, are going through a divorce after 44 years of marriage. They own 90 percent of the team, and because of community property lawsin California, Becky shares 50 percent of that asset.
One potential complicating factor is that some ownership shares are preferred and others are not, creating different valuations not easily resolved.
The Padres are not the first asset being put up for sale by John and Becky Moores. Other property, including an estate near Pebble Beach, is on themarket.
Moores told mlb.com that "there's a cooperative process between me and Becky ongoing now through Goldman Sachs."
Goldman Sachs has been involved in the sale of several MLB teams.
Padres CEO Sandy Alderson reiterated yesterday that he doesn't foresee a change of ownership structure that would affect the club's payroll for2009, which could be close to half of last year's Opening Day payroll of about $73 million.
"Simply stated," Alderson said, "I'd like to see it play out to John's satisfaction. I think his comments probably today reiteratehis desire to stay involved. I just expect to be supportive of the process. I am sure that we on the staff will be involved to some extent, but that's tobe determined."
In an April assessment of team valuations, Forbes magazine pegged the Padres' value at $385 million, which ranked 19th among 30 teams.
For the 2007 season, the team had operating income estimated at $23.6 million on revenue of $167 million. However, debt service on Petco Park cut into theteam's profit.
Prospective owners will be studying a Padres franchise that has $225 million in debt, roughly half of which is locked in at an 8 percent interest rate thatcannot be pre-paid.
Petco Park, which opened in 2004, anchors the Padres to San Diego through 2032. Other Padres assets include an $8 million facility in the Dominican Republicthat recent signees such as Venezuelan pitcher Adis Portillo described as the best of its kind.
Adding to the club's appeal to prospective owners, future player payrolls are bereft of bloated contracts, such as those given to Phil Nevin, RyanKlesko and Jeff Cirillo, that had hampered the front office.
As when Moores bought them, the Padres are coming off a terrible season. The 2008 club went 63-99 and finished last, which, along with the recession andreports of a shrinking payroll, has the club projecting an attendance drop of some 400,000 to 500,000 from more than 2.4 million last season.
In late 1994, Moores bought low. The Padres were coming off a 47-70 shortened season and baseball was mired in a labor stalemate that lasted until thespring 1995.
But Moores' timing was good in many regards. A trade orchestrated by General Manager Randy Smith that would bring future All-Stars Ken Caminiti andSteve Finley needed only his OK in December 1994. Moores also inherited a strong cast of inexpensive but productive pitchers headed by Trevor Hoffman, AndyAshby and Joey Hamilton, plus a $21 million payroll that he would double within three years.
From 1995 to 1998, the Padres prospered under Moores. The club in 1996 won its first National League West title since 1984. In 1998, the Padres reached theWorld Series, then gained public approval for a new ballpark that, despite delays caused by litigation, opened downtown in 2004.
The Padres won two more NL West titles, in 2005-06, giving them four under Moores - three more than the franchise had won in under previous owners sincejoining the league as an expansion team in 1969.
The intradivisional competition was much stronger in the 1970s, and the NL West was pared from seven teams to four when Moores took over. But for afranchise that still has the worst overall record in the NL since 1969, the Moores Era has coincided with unprecedented success on many levels.
"I think John's legacy is that he took a franchise that was in complete disarray - when he bought it, it was probably the worst franchise in majorleague baseball - and he pumped money into it, brought a respectable team to the city, then put a lot of his own money into building a new ballpark that isterrific for San Diego," said Bob Vizas, a former Padres legal adviser and CEO who worked for the club from 1999 to 2003.
Moores has said he injected close to $100 million to cope with ballpark delays and meet cash calls.
The club had anticipated a $15 million cash call from Moores in 2009, but that is in doubt and may be among the factors in slashing payroll.
Moores' baseball interests also have merged with those of his construction firm, JMI Inc. Projects included hotel and condo development near Petco and aspring-training facility in Goodyear, Ariz., that JMI is building for the Cleveland Indians. The Padres also have pushed for baseball to become prominent inChina, another potential market for JMI.
In 1998, amid contract negotiations between the Padres and ace pitcher Kevin Brown, player agent Scott Boras asserted that San Diego's voters handed atreasure chest to the Padres and Moores when they approved funding for a downtown ballpark, asserting that JMI stood to gain a billion dollars from downtowndevelopment.
"If that were an essay," Moores said at the time, "it would get a C-minus."
Moores revisited the subject with mlb.com recently.
"The club owns a couple of buildings down there, but I'm not sure a buyer would want them - it's not clear," Moores said. "This was ahuge amount of risk. My first preference would've been to develop nothing, but that simply wasn't possible. It's a process that's ongoing, andit's very difficult for me to say that on balance we've made a lot of money. But the notion that we've made billions of dollars is simply made outof whole cloth."
As the club has made known its intent to cut its payroll since the end of the season, Moores has increasingly been the target of fan criticism.
It has not been uncommon for teams to cut payroll, sometimes drastically, before putting a team up for sale to make the bottom line more attractive to apotential buyer. In baseball, it's known as a "fire sale" and it happened with the Padres after the 1992 season.
The team, owned by a group headed by Tom Werner, traded stars Gary Sheffield, Fred McGriff and Bruce Hurst, among others. In 1992, the Padres had finished82-80, in third place in the NL West. In 1993, the team was 61-101 and finished in last place.
It also happened in Miami with the Florida Marlins. After owner Wayne Huizenga's team won the World Series in 1997, he dumped such stars as pitcherKevin Brown (to the Padres), Sheffield, Robb Nen, Charles Johnson and Moises Alou. Huizenga sold the club to John Henry in 1998, the same year the Marlinsbecame the first team to lose 100 games the year after winning the World Series.
