Padres owner puts blame for not signing star pitcher Roki Sasaki on lawsuit by widow of deceased former owner

San Diego Padres owners Matthew and Robert Seidler, the brother of deceased former owner Peter Seidler, has responded to a lawsuit filed by Peter’s widow, Sheel Kamal Seidler, who is suing for ownership of the team.

Matthew and Robert’s attorney provided the response to Fox News Digital, and it suggests blame on Sheel’s lawsuit for the team’ inability to sign Japanese star pitcher Roki Sasaki this offseason. Sasaki signed with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers after reportedly engaging in heavy discussions with the Padres for weeks.

“During a crucial time when Padres management was in late negotiation stages with a star pitcher, Sheel’s lawsuit recklessly suggested that Matt and his brothers were plotting to relocate the Padres elsewhere,” the response, which was filed in the Texas Probate Court on Monday, read. 

Sasaki himself said that one of the reason he chose to sign with the Dodgers was because of the organization’s stability, at his introductory press conference last week. 

“The No. 1 thing that stood out [about the Dodgers] was the stability of the front office,” the pitcher said via a translator.

Sheel filed her lawsuit against her brothers-in-law in early January in attempt to seize control of the team from them for her children.

The widow alleged in her complaint that Peter, before his death, revealed his dying wish was for her to take control of the Padres, followed by their children, and that her children hold the largest stake in ownership. She adds that Peter’s two brothers, Matt and Bob, “are trying to erase Peter’s vision and legacy, as well as falsely cast themselves as Peter’s true heirs.”

The suit also alleges that Bob’s wife made multiple “racist, profane and hateful communications directed at Sheel—a woman of Indian descent—in communications.”

Matt and Robert’s response, they claim that Peter never designated Sheel as the successor to the team during his life.

“Peter could have chosen to (a) give Sheel the right to be, designate, or approve the individual that controls the Padres, (b) give Sheel direct ownership or control over the Trust’s interest in the Padres, (c) give Sheel the right to approve or veto any transactions by the Trustees, or (d) require the Trustee to make any principal distribution that Sheel demands,” the response read. 

The response claims Peter amended his trust at least seven times after their marriage and never named Sheel a successor trustee in any version and that she was precluded from “ever serving as a successor trustee under any circumstance.”

The response also claims that Peter said during his life that he wanted his siblings and niece to take control of the team after his death.

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“Peter had numerous conversations with his siblings and others about successor Control Persons and consistently identified five Seidler family members as candidates: Bob, Matt, John, his brother Tom (who has a 30+ year career in baseball, including 12 years with the Padres), and his niece, Monica,” it read.

“In none of these conversations did Peter ever suggest or even imply that he wanted Sheel to run the Padres. As Peter told people close to him, he moved his family to Texas in 2021 in significant part because he wanted to ‘take pressure off Sheel and the kids’ and to ‘get Sheel out of the limelight.’ Peter knew all too well the potential effects of media attention, as well as the other pressures, stresses, and demands that come with owning a sports franchise.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Sheel for comment but has not received a response at the time of publication. 

Peter died in November 2023 at the age of 63. He had been ill for months, though it has not been disclosed what exactly he’d been dealing with. Seidler is a cancer survivor who had health issues for quite some time. 

He said in July 2023 that the Padres would stay within his family for generations after he passed away.

Peter was the founder of Seidler Equity Partners, which was a key piece of the group that purchased the Padres in 2012. Seidler’s uncle, also named Peter, and Ron Fowler were a part of the group, too. 

The name of the group derives from Seidler’s grandfather, Walter O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers from 1950, when they first relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, until 1979. Fowler transferred the role of chairman to Seidler in 2020, and then Seidler purchased part of Fowler’s stake in the organization to become the team’s largest stakeholder. 

Prior to his death, he dealt out a series of high-cost contracts to superstar players in an effort to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West division and win a World Series. 

These contracts include Manny Machado’s $350 million deal, Fernando Tatis Jr.’s $340 million deal, Xander Bogaertz $280 million deal, and Yu Darvish’s $108 million deal. 

The team was never able to reach the World Series, but they did defeat the rival Dodgers in playoff series in 2021 and 2022.

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