The wife of deceased San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler stunned many around baseball with a surprising lawsuit this week that some around the team are calling a “high-level PR exercise.”
Sheel Seidler made big headlines in Padres circles earlier this week when she filed a lawsuit against the brothers of her late husband. The suit — which was filed in Texas of all places — tossed some strong claims in the direction of Bob, Matt, and John Seidler just a little over a year after the passing of their brother Peter.
“Bob and Matt have misappropriated and misused the assets that their deceased brother, Peter, expressly bequeathed in trust to Sheel. His first and only wife and the mother of their three children,” court documents obtained by Sports Business Journal claimed. “Peter made clear that the Seidler Trusts, and their assets, were to exist for Sheel’s sole benefit during her lifetime.
“Yet time after time, Defendants have treated those assets as their own. To the detriment of the Trust and Mrs. Seidler… Indeed, 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.”
The claims of a sale or relocation were the points that got the attention of San Diego Padres fans. It is something The Athletic MLB insider Evan Drellich spoke about during a recent appearance on the “Foul Territory” podcast as he explained the goals of Sheel Seidler’s lawsuit.
- San Diego Padres record: 93-69
Sheel Seidler’s San Diego Padres lawsuit was to make deceased husband’s brothers look awful
“We see this sometimes with third-generation owners. When the family gets larger we have a fight at some point for the ownership. Or ownership stake and control of the team,” Drellich said. “And that’s what this really boils down to… It’s a fight for power. And the big question is will the team need to be sold for it to be resolved or can they find a way to resolve it without selling the team?
“… Often what happens here is some kind of settlement is worked out behind the scenes. And that could be one of the things Sheel was hoping for… It was a cleverly worded lawsuit. [Relocate] is the kind of thing you put in a lawsuit to get attention. It is suggested that the brothers of Peter Seidler, Matt and Robert, have or would consider relocating the team and that is something Sheel would not do.”
- San Diego Padres payroll (2025): $150.3 million
With San Diego down to just one major professional sports franchise, the idea of leaving like the San Diego Chargers recently did for LA instantly puts the Seidler brothers in a bad light. Something the insider says was the main goal of Sheel Seidler’s widow.
“Relocation is a hot-button topic anywhere, but in San Diego, you’re really pulling on some heartstrings. I talked to somebody who knows the organization well and they called it a ‘high-level PR exercise.,'” Drellich said. “And I think it’s true. I don’t mean that it is a lawsuit without merit. But I think it was effective in painting the brothers of Peter Seider in a certain way.”
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