Moorad quits as D-Backs CEO; Will try to purchase Padres

by Section 135 on Jan 2, 2009 4:29 PM PST Comment 30 comments

From ESPN -

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3806526

PHOENIX -- Jeff Moorad resigned as chief executive officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks to pursue ownership of the San Diego Padres.

The team promoted team president Derrick Hall to chief executive officer, Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick said Friday.

Moorad will maintain his share of Diamondbacks ownership but would have to sell that if his effort to purchase the Padres is successful, Kendrick said.

Kendrick would not reveal what share of the team Moorad owns but said "it is not an insignificant amount."

Moorad's development of a group to purchase the Padres had reached the point when Major League Baseball rules required him to leave his job with Arizona, Kendrick said.

"I can confirm that Jeff has resigned and is interested in the Padres," San Diego owner John Moores wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Two weeks ago, Moores said he had hired Goldman Sachs to search for a potential buyer as he goes through a divorce with his wife, Becky.

"Goldman will look at offers and make recommendations," Moores said in a Dec. 15 e-mail to the AP. "I have been told that, because these are difficult economic times, I should be prepared for a wide range of interest and offers."

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Would he become CEO...

and replace Sandy? Or is he just coming in as owner?

Do you Wazzel?

by NeifiChicken on Jan 2, 2009 5:03 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I would imagine he would be the CEO

Since he is leading an investment group and not footing the bill himself but who knows.

by Steve (Grey Suit) on Jan 2, 2009 5:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Sandy

I wonder what’s gonna happen to the FO

LT 4 MVP

by sdpads24 on Jan 2, 2009 8:53 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

My guess would be that..

KT stays
Sandy, Fuson, Gayton and possibly Depo are all gone.

by Steve (Grey Suit) on Jan 2, 2009 10:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I’ve never been that fond of the whole "moneyball’’ philosophy. It’s just boring baseball. Sure, we’ve had marginal success over the past few years, but it’s always been painful to watch even when we are winning.

LT 4 MVP

by sdpads24 on Jan 2, 2009 11:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You obviously have no idea what "moneyball" is

Isaac Brock is my Morrissey

by CurbEnthusiasm on Jan 2, 2009 11:59 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

What exactly is moneyball then?

It isn’t exactly exciting the way we implement the system.

LT 4 MVP

by sdpads24 on Jan 3, 2009 11:30 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Moneyball

Is the ability to find inefficiencies in the market and exploit them to build a better major league team. Its using every possible means to bring talent to the major league level that maximizes your ability to win games including statistics, scouting, player development and coaching. The A’s specifically used OBP as the calling card for all of these because teams undervalued its importance at the beginning of this decade. They also drafted college talent because teams were undervaluing the ceilings on players who were entering the draft at an older age. They also picked up players who were stuck in the minors (like Chad Bradford) and found roles for them on their team. They also found undervalued players that had correctable flaws (like Scott Hatteberg’s defense) and used good coaching (future Texas manager Ron Washington) to iron out those flaws and get a cheap addition to the major league roster. That’s what moneyball is all about.

1-10-DEN 18 (9:52) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler pass short right intended for 19-E.Royal INTERCEPTED by 93-L.Castillo (95-S.Phillips) at DEN 18. 93-L.Castillo to DEN 14 for 4 yards (62-C.Wiegmann). 6-J.Cutler pouts ob to DEN 25 for 11 yards.

by Wonko on Jan 3, 2009 12:42 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs

Great summation

I’ll add that it is not only about finding undervalued skills, but also identifying and ignoring overvalued skills. Plus the system is usually fond of acquiring as many draft picks as possible by typically letting class A and B free agents walk.

by 'Eaters on Jan 3, 2009 1:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Collecting picks

The draft compensation worked a little different at the time. It seems that now they prefer to trade for minor league talent instead of letting the guy get to free agency. However, many of their top free agents recently have been pitchers and maybe they just wanted to avoid the risk of injuries hurting compensation. So it might be a coincidence that they don’t let many walk anymore. All of this is done to save money and is actually contrary to most of moneyball principle of getting winning talent, a higher payroll would result in less players traded/let walk who could help the team and I would argue that it would still fit the moneyball philosophy for the most part.

by Wonko on Jan 3, 2009 4:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think it still fits

IMO, I think the pendulum has swung and clubs are overvaluing prospects and compensatory picks. Plus with the payroll expanding in the next few years the A’s can resign a known quantity and not have it destroy their franchise if it doesn’t work out in the future.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Jan 5, 2009 7:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Why would their payroll expand?

They are still a small market club playing in a stadium built for football. Why would that change? The only way they are getting more money is when Eric Chavez’ contract runs out.

by Wonko on Jan 5, 2009 9:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

new stadium, new cash flow, new cable deal.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Jan 6, 2009 11:09 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

add

I am not saying the A’s are going to be a huge spender, but in a recent interview with Billy (probably last offseason) he said the organization won’t be as cash constrained as in the past with the Cisco Systems deal and the new Cable deal they are signing, will allow them to be a little more flexible in their decisions.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Jan 6, 2009 11:15 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

No new stadium yet

They need to find a location. They had one, but that didn’t go so well. Last I heard that land in Fremont is being earmarked for something else and they are going to petition MLB to look in San Jose (even though that is Giants territory). Haven’t heard about a new cable deal, that would indeed help some.

by Wonko on Jan 6, 2009 1:23 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That would be incredibly shitty.

Bolts from the Blue // "It is what it is." - A.J. Smith
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Jan 2, 2009 11:07 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

yup

Brady Hoke, Al Borges, and Rocky Long. Aztec football is back!

by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 2, 2009 11:17 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That would most likely kill the Padres

The best thing about a philosophy is sticking to it. Taking 4-5 years of work, throwing it away and starting over would practically torpedo the next 5 years of the franchise.

by Wonko on Jan 3, 2009 12:00 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs

yup

Brady Hoke, Al Borges, and Rocky Long. Aztec football is back!

by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 3, 2009 12:06 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I would guess

That switchin
“Philosophies” could take some time in the farm system.

We can’t afford to change things, hopefully they will allow a smooth transition

Moorad said he expects to take a majority position with the Padres over time, and it is apparent Moores may remain in a controlling capacity until that happens. Moores declined to speculate about how long he would remain as part of the Padres ownership group, saying that he would address the matter at length after a pending meeting of the club’s three-person executive committee.

Moorad said that he expects Moores to remain.

“For a period of years,” Moorad said. “Beyond that, the deal’s specifics will be forthcoming, but it’s probably not appropriate to talk about it today.”

from http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090102&content_id=3731677&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd

If Moores sticks around for a while, hopefully they will let the current Regime continue thier work so they can evaluate the situation and hopefully retain most of them.

Sandy & Co. have a plan, let’s hope they can stick around to realize it.
Plus, they would be pretty silly to let KT go.

[Fingers Crossed]

by TJB on Jan 3, 2009 1:18 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I can't see a guy like Sandy sticking around

With Moorad as the managing partner too many cooks for one kitchen kind of thing.

by Steve (Grey Suit) on Jan 3, 2009 7:51 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

they've had upwards of 5 or 6 GMs in that front office

I don’t think one more will break the camel’s back. I think they’ll likely be getting rid of at least one or two of the GMs, but I’m guessing it takes new ownership a full season before they do so.

by Dex on Jan 3, 2009 8:39 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

They had 6

Randy Smith (SD/DET), Kevin Towers (SD), Ed Wade (PHI), Paul Depodesta (LAD), Sandy Alderson (OAK) & Ted Simmons (PITT) at one point last season. Ed Wade is obviously in Houston now and Ted Simmons is now the bench coach in Milwaukee so we still have 4 left. I don’t think our current FO is going anywhere though.

by SDPads_1 on Jan 3, 2009 9:21 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Jeff Moorad says he has reached an agreement in principle to buy the San Diego Padres.

Moorad said Friday he heads a “small but significant” group of investors that has an exclusive right to complete the specifics of negotiations with Padres owner John Moores. Moorad said he hopes the transaction can be completed in the next three months.

Brady Hoke, Al Borges, and Rocky Long. Aztec football is back!

by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 2, 2009 5:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs