The family feud over control of the San Diego Padres appears to be over, according to a court filing on Monday, which revealed that the widow of Peter Seidler has dropped the bulk of her claims against two of the late owner’s brothers.
According to the filing, Sheel Seidler dismissed almost all of her claims in the lawsuit she brought in Texas probate court last year, when she accused Matt and Bob Seidler of breaches of fiduciary duty and fraud in their roles as trustees of Peter Seidler’s trust. With the exception of Sheel Seidler’s claims regarding trust distributions and a demand for accounting, the filing said the two sides had reached an “agreement to resolve the matters between them,” though the terms were not disclosed.
John Seidler, Peter Seidler’s oldest brother and the current trustee of his trust, became the Padres’ control person and chairman last February. In November, the Seidler family began exploring a potential sale of the franchise, with a change in ownership widely expected. Forbes estimated the Padres’ value last March at $1.95 billion, and league sources recently told The Athletic that the Seidler family is seeking a sale price well above that number.
The future of the franchise had been further clouded by the battle for control, even as John Seidler and other team officials maintained they would continue operating the team as if little had changed.
The claims Sheel Seidler dismissed this week were permanently dismissed and cannot be refiled at a later date, per the filing, though she is maintaining those claims that have not been dismissed.
Attorneys for Sheel Seidler and the Seidler brothers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Among her other allegations levied last January, Sheel Seidler accused Matt and Bob Seidler of a breach of duty to distribute trust assets to her, as well as a failure to fully disclose their fiduciary activities as trustees. Neither of those claims explicitly mentioned the Padres. (The lawsuit had also alleged that Sheel Seidler was the sole beneficiary owner of the trust that controls the Padres and should thus become the next control person of the team.)
Notably, Sheel Seidler’s lawsuit had alleged that “Matt’s efforts to promote his brother John as Control Person and to block Sheel may well be part of his efforts to sell, and perhaps relocate, the team, over Sheel’s strident objections.”
Matt Seidler filed a response to Sheel Seidler’s lawsuit last January, denying allegations that he and his brother acted in bad faith, while alleging that their sister-in-law was motivated by a pursuit of “control and unlimited money.” Earlier the same month, Matt Seidler issued a public letter in which he characterized suggestions that he could attempt to relocate the franchise as “completely false.”
The letter did not address Sheel Seidler’s claim that Matt Seidler, as a trustee of his late brother’s trust, may have been seeking to sell the team, an eventual outcome many in the industry predicted after Peter Seidler’s death in November 2023.
This is a developing story that will be updated.