Sheel Seidler, the late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler’s widow, filed a lawsuit against brothers-in-law Matthew and Robert on Monday in an effort to stop John, another brother, from taking over the franchise instead of her.
The Padres are one of the teams vying for Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki at the moment of the lawsuit.
Sheel Seidler filed a lawsuit against Robert, the previous executor, and Matthew, who took over as executor of Peter Seidler’s estate last year, in Travis County Probate Court in Austin, Texas. She alleged heinous acts of self-dealing, fraud, conversion, and fiduciary breaches of trust.
Alecia, Robert’s wife, was accused in the petition of sending “multiple racist, profane, and hateful communications directed at Sheel – a woman of lndian descent.”
“Defendants´ actions to wrest control of the Padres were undertaken to force Sheel – a women, an interloper and an Indian-American woman not of O´Malley descent – from what Bob and Matt saw as their family business and ancestral right,” the petition stated.
Sheel requested that Matthew be removed as trustee and prohibited from operating on behalf of the Seidler trusts. She requested that any attempts to designate someone other than Sheel as the Padres’ control person be nullified by the court.
“I made this decision as a very last resort, but I am confident it is the right one and the best way to protect the Padres franchise and ensure the vision that Peter and I shared for the team will continue,” Sheel stated in a statement.
One of the investors in the team that acquired the Padres in 2012 was Peter Seidler, the grandson of the late Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley. On November 18, 2020, he took over as the team’s control person from Ron Fowler, and on November 14, 2023, he passed away at the age of 63. Three days later, Peter Seidler’s business associate Eric Kutsenda was named interim control person by the team.
Major League Baseball owners have not yet given their approval to San Diego’s announcement on December 21 that John will take over as the control person.
“Matt has attempted to intimidate Sheel into silence, threatening her if she were to make public her opposition to John´s unwarranted nomination as control person,” the petition stated.
At the beginning of the 2024 season, San Diego, who has never won a World Series, cut the big league player payroll from a team record $257 million in 2023 to $166 million.
“The emphasis in the press reports on the Padres cutting salary, lowering their expectations, and implicitly abandoning their all-out pursuit of a World Series championship would have been a gut-punch to Peter,” the petition stated.
The petition contained a sheet of paper that was allegedly written by Peter Seidler, naming Sheel as his preferred future control person, followed by their kids. In a letter dated October 15, Matthew reportedly told Sheel that she lacked “the experience, skills, and financial acumen necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of this important role,” according to the petition.
“Rather than appoint Sheel as Padres control person – consistent with Peter´s noted preference and as the person whose interests are best aligned with the Seidler trusts – defendants are attempting to force the appointment of their brother John as the Padres control person,” the petition claimed.
By doing this, they are giving a third party control over the Padres and Seidler trusts’ significant stakes while still having the advantages and look of being the major owners. As they enjoy the advantages of being the baseball team’s largest beneficial owner, the defendants have barred Sheel from joining the Padres organization and denied her access to those advantages.
She charged Matthew and Robert with trying to sell the trusts’ stake in Seidler Kutsenda Management Co. for less than market value and then pulling out of the deal after it was discovered.
“Alecia made clear that Sheel was an outsider unworthy of being part of the Seidler family and that she was foolish to believe that the Seidler family would ever act in her best interests,” according to the petition.
Additionally, according to the petition, Matthew and Robert “made clear that Sheel and her children are not welcome in the owners’ box at the Padres’ stadium, Petco Park.”
“We do not comment on pending legal matters,” stated Craig Hughner, a spokesman for the Padres.
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