Olney: How the Padres are embracing the spirit of late owner Peter Seidler
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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
Every baseball fan base has its own identity. A Philadelphia Phillies crowd is intense. Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers are raucous (but late-arriving, fighting through the traffic bottlenecks). New York Yankees fans are anxious, emitting murmurs of distress between pitches.
In San Diego, as Padres manager Mike Shildt said, “every game is like a party.”
That was late owner Peter Seidler’s vision for this team, which will manifest today in Game 3 of San Diego’s division series against the Dodgers. Seidler died in November at the age of 63 (the cause of death for Seidler, a two-time cancer survivor, was not disclosed). But if he had been in attendance today, you probably would’ve found him behind home plate in the hour before first pitch, genially chatting and absorbing all of the sights and sounds, watching the gathering fans, loud in their Padres colors and enthusiasm, the atmosphere distinct.
Seidler deserved the credit for so much of it. After purchasing the team in 2012, he worked against the industry’s conventional wisdom about what was possible for this franchise. The Padres, long defined as a small-market club that struggled to afford stars, are now a team loaded with big names, big talents and championship aspirations.
With a foundation of expensive veterans such as Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Yu Darvish and emerging talents such as Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Merrill, the Padres have baseball’s best record since the All-Star break, while playing with heart-shaped patches bearing Seidler’s initials.
“Peter was the one who said, ‘Hey, we’re San Diego, we’re putting this city back on the map, I’m going to create this atmosphere,'” said Eric Hosmer, who played five seasons with the Padres.
Tony Gwynn Jr., the son of the late Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn and an analyst on the team’s radio network, said, “People enjoy coming to Petco Park now, because it’s almost a social event.”
Baseball in San Diego didn’t always feel like this. In 1993, about the middle of Gwynn Sr.’s Hall of Fame career, the Padres drew just 1.3 million fans, in a season in which the team’s then ownership ordered the unloading of stars such as Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff. On some days, Jack Murphy Stadium — the Padres’ home at the time — was so empty that birds and other wildlife would scavenge leftover concession food — during the game, rather than afterward. There were few humans around to interrupt.
Even in the midst of a stretch of contention after Petco Park opened in 2004, interest continued to lag. From 2008 to 2015, San Diego ranked no higher than 10th in the National League in attendance. A few years ago, Seidler stood behind home plate at Petco Park and talked with a visiting reporter about how to augment the baseball experience in San Diego. He’d grown up in the sport: His mother’s father was Walter O’Malley, the owner had moved the Dodgers franchise from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in the hope of more business, and the team has operated close to or at capacity for Dodger Stadium for most of the decades since. Seidler was raised in baseball, and he knew how a community could link with a team. He was determined to find the path to the same level of excitement in San Diego.
In 2018, the Padres’ payroll was $94 million, with the franchise residing in the familiar neighborhood of small-market teams. But in spring training of the next year, the Padres shocked the baseball world by agreeing to a $300 million deal with Machado — a massive contract that was wildly out of character for the way the franchise had conducted business for decades. At the time, the perception within the industry was that this deal, along with the $144 million contract that Hosmer had signed the prior winter, would place the Padres on an unsustainable financial track.
Even Gwynn Jr., who witnessed the deconstruction of really good Padres teams in the past because of payroll concerns, acknowledged that he was initially skeptical that the franchise would continue on this path.
But Seidler continued to tell San Diego general manager A.J. Preller to think big, to pursue even the most expensive players. The Padres took on salary to acquire Darvish; they traded for Joe Musgrove. In summer 2022, Preller traded for Juan Soto, the game’s best young star, and waded in the deep end of free agency again the following offseason.
The Padres tried to sign shortstop Trea Turner, offering him a record sum for a player at that position, and when Turner signed with the Phillies, Seidler and Preller met with Aaron Judge, dangling the concept of a deal that would’ve been worth something in the range of $400 million. When Judge re-signed with the Yankees, the Padres pivoted to Bogaerts, signing him for $280 million — far beyond what the Red Sox had been willing to pay.
The Padres’ payroll increased to $248 million in 2023. The team’s spending spree has generated a lot of commentary from other organizations — a lot of it negative, with rival executives expressing shock over how much long-term debt San Diego has taken on with all of these deals. When asked about this in spring 2022, Seidler smiled slightly — knowingly — and said, “We’ll be fine.” He didn’t offer any details about how the Padres would make it work, or what new revenue streams might emerge to help pay for the massive obligations. Rival executives have assumed that part of Seidler’s bet was that the Padres franchise would grow in value over time, in a way that would cover costs.
And sure enough, the Padres have ranked in the top four in NL attendance every year since 2021. This year, they averaged more than 41,000 fans a game — more than any team in baseball outside the Dodgers and Phillies. In the first season after Seidler’s passing, the Padres reduced their payroll and flipped Soto to the Yankees for pitching in a blockbuster offseason trade, but Preller and CEO Erik Greupner continued to foster a fan expectation that the team will work to win.
In March, Preller swapped prospects for Dylan Cease, the best available starting pitcher at the time, and then Preller made the first big deal of the season by dealing for batting Luis Arraez in early May. At the trade deadline, San Diego continued to add — relievers Tanner Scott and Jason Adam, among others. With those bold moves fortifying the roster, the team took off after a middling start, making a late run at the NL West title before locking in the NL’s top wild-card spot. They swept the Atlanta Braves in the first round and split the first two games of the division series in L.A. Now, the Padres come home with a chance to take down their biggest rivals in front of a rocking Petco Park, just as their owner would have wanted.
“I’d say San Diegans are really happy with where we are,” said Gwynn Jr., “as opposed to what they had seen before.”
It’s 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby day in Atlanta!
Some of the most dynamic home run hitters in baseball will be taking aim at the Truist Park stands on Monday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) in one of the most anticipated events of the summer.
While the prospect of a back-to-back champion is out of the picture — 2024 winner Teoscar Hernandez is not a part of this year’s field — a number of exciting stars will be taking the field, including Atlanta’s own Matt Olson, who replaced Ronald Acuna Jr. just three days before the event. Will Olson make a run in front of his home crowd? Will Cal Raleigh show off the power that led to 38 home runs in the first half? Or will one of the younger participants take the title?
We have your one-stop shop for everything Derby related, from predictions to live updates once we get underway to analysis and takeaways at the night’s end.
MLB Home Run Derby field
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (38 home runs in 2025)
James Wood, Washington Nationals (24)
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays (23)
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (21)
Brent Rooker, Athletics (20)
Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves (17)
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees (17)
Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates (16)
Live updates
Who is going to win the Derby and who will be the runner-up?
Jeff Passan: Raleigh. His swing is perfect for the Derby: He leads MLB this season in both pull percentage and fly ball percentage, so it’s not as if he needs to recalibrate it to succeed. He has also become a prolific hitter from the right side this season — 16 home runs in 102 at-bats — and his ability to switch between right- and left-handed pitching offers a potential advantage. No switch-hitter (or catcher for that matter) has won a Home Run Derby. The Big Dumper is primed to be the first, beating Buxton in the finals.
Alden Gonzalez: Cruz. He might be wildly inconsistent at this point in his career, but he is perfect for the Derby — young enough to possess the stamina required for a taxing event that could become exhausting in the Atlanta heat; left-handed, in a ballpark where the ball carries out better to right field; and, most importantly, capable of hitting balls at incomprehensible velocities. Raleigh will put on a good show from both sides of the plate but will come in second.
Buster Olney: Olson. He is effectively pinch-hitting for Acuna, and because he received word in the past 72 hours of his participation, he hasn’t had the practice rounds that the other competitors have been going through. But he’s the only person in this group who has done the Derby before, which means he has experienced the accelerated pace, adrenaline and push of the crowd.
His pitcher, Eddie Perez, knows something about performing in a full stadium in Atlanta. And, as Olson acknowledged in a conversation Sunday, the park generally favors left-handed hitters because of the larger distances that right-handed hitters must cover in left field.
Jesse Rogers: Olson. Home-field advantage will mean something this year as hitting in 90-plus degree heat and humidity will be an extra challenge in Atlanta. Olson understands that and can pace himself accordingly. Plus, he was a late addition. He has got nothing to lose. He’ll outlast the young bucks in the field. And I’m not putting Raleigh any lower than second — his first half screams that he’ll be in the finals against Olson.
Jorge Castillo: Wood. His mammoth power isn’t disputed — he can jack baseballs to all fields. But the slight defect in his power package is that he doesn’t hit the ball in the air nearly as often as a typical slugger. Wood ranks 126th out of 155 qualified hitters across the majors in fly ball percentage. And he still has swatted 24 home runs this season. So, in an event where he’s going to do everything he can to lift baseballs, hitting fly balls won’t be an issue, and Wood is going to show off that gigantic power en route to a victory over Cruz in the finals.
Who will hit the longest home run of the night — and how far?
Passan: Cruz hits the ball harder than anyone in baseball history. He’s the choice here, at 493 feet.
Gonzalez: If you exclude the Coors Field version, there have been just six Statcast-era Derby home runs that have traveled 497-plus feet. They were compiled by two men: Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. James Wood — all 6-foot-7, 234 pounds of him — will become the third.
Olney: James Wood has the easy Stanton- and Judge-type power, and he will clear the Chophouse with the longest homer. Let’s say 497 feet.
Rogers: Hopefully he doesn’t injure himself doing it, but Buxton will break out his massive strength and crush a ball at least 505 feet. I don’t see him advancing far in the event, but for one swing, he’ll own the night.
Castillo: Cruz hits baseballs hard and far. He’ll crush a few bombs, and one will reach an even 500 feet.
Who is the one slugger fans will know much better after the Derby?
Passan: Buxton capped his first half with a cycle on Saturday, and he’ll carry that into the Derby, where he will remind the world why he was baseball’s No. 1 prospect in 2015. Buxton’s talent has never been in question, just his health. And with his body feeling right, he has the opportunity to put on a show fans won’t soon forget.
Olney: Caminero isn’t a big name and wasn’t a high-end prospect like Wood was earlier in his career. Just 3½ years ago, Caminero was dealt to the Rays by the Cleveland Guardians in a relatively minor November trade for pitcher Tobias Myers. But since then, he has refined his ability to cover inside pitches and is blossoming this year into a player with ridiculous power. He won’t win the Derby, but he’ll open some eyes.
What’s the one moment we’ll all be talking about long after this Derby ends?
Gonzalez: The incredible distances and velocities that will be reached, particularly by Wood, Cruz, Caminero, Raleigh and Buxton. The hot, humid weather at Truist Park will only aid the mind-blowing power that will be on display Monday night.
Rogers: The exhaustion on the hitter’s faces, swinging for home run after home run in the heat and humidity of Hot-lanta!
Castillo: Cruz’s 500-foot blast and a bunch of other lasers he hits in the first two rounds before running out of gas in the finals.
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