Did Moorad and his ownership group have the money to own and operate the club? They had enough to buy the club because the money is/was sitting in escrow. Did they have money to operate the club? I guess that's a matter of opinion, but those dudes in the ownership group were worth billions. I have no idea if that money was liquid enough to please owners or fans.
All the money issues aside Moorad wasn't going to get the 22 votes needed to approve the ownership control because of Kendrick and Reinsdorf and their bitchiness. Kendrick has abandonment issues ever since Moorad left Arizona and Reinsdorf hates agents or beards or something.
Here's my working theory on what happened that caused Moores' and Moorad's relationship to sour. It's total speculation...
I'm thinking that Moorad and company wanted Moores out before they signed the new lucrative TV deal with Fox Sports San Diego. So they tried to buy him out early so he wouldn't be entitled to a cut of the profits. When the ownership transfer failed and the TV deal still needed to be pushed through, Moores who had mentally checked out years ago, caught a whiff of just how much money he would have missed out on had he let the purchase go through. Presumably the money amount was significantly more than they had let on to Moores. Of course Moores would want to wet his beak on some of this new TV money since he lost half his fortune due to his recent divorce. So he was more than a little pissed that Moorad's group was holding out on him. So now he's going to wait until the TV deal is approved and the Dodgers are sold, so when he sells to someone else he can cash out for more.
Again, I have no idea if that's true, that's just me trying to complete a puzzle with oddly shaped pieces.
Anyway here are some more links on the subject that may offer you more insight.
- Danny Knobler - CBSSports.com Without the votes, Moorad had no way into the owners' club
Sources now tell Heyman that in recent weeks even Moorad's relationship with Moores has soured. - Sullivan: More Padres questions than answers | UTSanDiego.com
If I’m John Moores, his ex-wife, his daughter, his partner or any of their accountants, and a Fox deal potentially worth more than $800 million over 20 years is close to closing, I might want to hang on to my shares for a piece of that pie. - Jeff Moorad steps down as Padres' CEO | padres.com: News
"All good, will continue as vice chairman and focus on the FOX/Padres relationship," Moorad said in an email to MLB.com, "still wearing the 'SD' with pride." - insidethepadres: Ownership Q&A, Part II
I'm told Moores is ready to move on with his life and, after a period of due diligence, likely will sell the club to someone MLB approves. - PADRES: Jeff Moorad steps down as Padres CEO
It is not known whether Moorad's departure will jeopardize an attempt by a group he created to purchase the team outright from majority owner John Moores. - Search for new owner for San Diego Padres begins anew following resignation of Jeff Moorad - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN
Right now, the wise play for Moores is to wait for another 10 days. After that, Moores will be able to say he owns the only baseball franchise known to be for sale. -
XX Sports Radio: Darren Smith Show
Darren has mp3's of interviews with Tim Sullivan and Jon Heyman on the ownership controversy.