Phil Mickelson, who was long touted as the Cool Kid of the O'Malley/Fowler led ownership group has decided that cool kids don't throw in with billionaire ownership groups after all.

From the UT:

"I think to be involved with the Padres you have to be fully committed to the long term," Mickelson said. "I've been born and raised here, but at this moment I'm not able to make that kind of long-term commitment to the city and to the team."

If you're a glass half full type of guy (or gal), this is an indicator that the Padres won't be relying on some Magic Johnson like puppet jibber jabbering about how, even though he's been doing something entirely unrelated basically every waking moment of his life, he's now qualified to make decisions regarding a major sports franchise. It also means that this ownership group is so rich that they don't need Phil Mickelson's probably minimal investment nor celebrity cache to actually get sh_t done.

If you're a glass half empty gender non-specific person, you're thinking that Lefty's taken a look around him and decided that he doesn't want to throw in with crooks and liars who won't be investing their billions of dollars properly in the team, and therefore doesn't want "second rate" and "non-contender" to be associated with his legacy on or off the golf course.

The reality is likely somewhere in the middle and that glass really is just half full and half empty. Phil probably decided that being an owner wasn't going to do anything for him in the near future in terms of financial investment nor prestige and the Padres ownership group, as quiet as they've been, has decided that they don't really need a spokesperson beyond Ron Fowler and don't feel the need to pressure Phil Mickelson into some fake role.

Queue Steve Garvey expressing his interest to join the group in 3... 2... 1...