Goldman Sachs Hired by San Diego Padres in Attempt to Sell the Major League Baseball Team

Major League Baseball's (MLB) San Diego Padres have been in the news lately but for all the wrong reasons. Just recently the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs ended their talks in an attempt to trade Padres star pitcher Jake Peavy to the Cubs. The reason the Padres are trying to dump their top pitcher; the Padres are trying to shave their player salaries down to around $40 million for this upcoming season from about $72 million last season and Peavy is due to make $11 million in the coming year. Now the motive behind the recent "garage sale" of players has come to light. The San Diego Padres have hired Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs in an attempt to sell the team (source: espn.com).

The reason for the sale is that the owner of the San Diego Padres, John Moores is going through a divorce with his wife Becky. Goldman Sachs was hired to find possible suitors for the Padres and advise Moores in the matter of selling. Because of community property laws in California, Moores' wife owns half of the 90% stake that Moores currently holds. The Moores daughter Jennifer is reported to own 5% and the other 5% is reportedly owned by business man Glenn Doshay (source: espn.com).

Moores, who bought the team in 1994 from a group of 15 owners for about $80 million, knows the sale is coming at a bad time. With the economy as bad as it is he is preparing for a wide range of interests and offers (source: espn.com). Still the San Diego area is a desirable place to be and may be a desirable place to own a Major League Baseball team. But if the Padres keep getting rid of all their talent who knows if the offers from potential buyers are going to be good ones.

The San Diego Padres will certainly have a new look next year. A look of a team that resembles perhaps more of a Minor League team than that of a Major League team. Then again, that seemed to work alright for the Tampa Bay Rays last season who took the second lowest team salary all the way to the World Series. But with the recent hiring of Goldman Sachs from the san Diego Padres for the possible sale of the ball club one thing is certain, owner John Moores will probably think twice before saying "I do" again. I've heard of losing you're the shirt off your back in a divorce, but this is the first time I have heard of losing a Major League Baseball team.