MLB owners today at league meetings in Denver took less than 10 minutes to formally approve the sale of the Padres to a group led by San Diego businessman and former minority owner Ron Fowler, who is now the designated control exec of the club. The approval sets up an expected closing of the estimated $800M sale from John Moores within the next 10-14 days. After the fractious collapse of a prior, Jeff Moorad-led bid to buy the club, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig today hailed the Fowler group and the relative ease with which the transaction was done. Fowler, for his part, pledged to instill a sense of local pride in the incoming ownership group. "What we hope this means is that we're starting on a long, consistent ownership group," he said of his fellow investors, which include several members of the O'Malley family.
Moores, meanwhile, departed Denver right after the vote. Selig said of Moores, "John did a lot of wonderful things for baseball. He was very helpful for me, particularly during a time (in the 1990s) when things weren't frankly as great as they are right now. I know it's the right thing for him to do. Believe me, I like John Moores a lot. He did a lot for this sport. A lot."
