The San Diego Padres have a new leader, or they're about to be.

Major League Baseball team owners voted on Thursday to approve John Seidler as the Padres' master.

Often, such a vote means a transfer of ownership of the team. Thursday's vote was effectively a transfer of power to John Seidler, the brother of former Padres president Peter Seidler, who died in November 2023.

Officially, the transfer of power will not take place until John Seidler becomes a trustee of the Peter Seidler Trust. The processing of the relevant documents is expected to take about 30 days.

Major League President Rob Manfred said John Seidler's promotion to Padres manager was "not controversial." The approval vote was unanimous.

"We expect members of the Seidler family to continue to manage the Padres," Rob Manfred said.

John Seidler's term will begin in the shadow of a lawsuit filed by Sheel Seidler. Sheel Seidler, wife of the late Padres president Peter Seidler, accused Peter's other two brothers, Matt Seidler and Robert Seidler, of mishandling funds that should have belonged to her while serving as trustee of the Peter Seidler Trust Fund.

The lawsuit seeks to revoke all of the trustee's actions, including Matt Seidler's decision last December to appoint John Seidler as controller.

Thursday's approval was expected, and the decision seemed logical to the team owners who voted on it.

"His family holds the lion's share of ownership of the team, and Peter's ownership has gone to the trust and (John) will now be the trustee," Arizona Sidewinders owner Ken Kendrick said after the vote. "So, it's actually inevitable...... [John] was a good man, and of course, we all loved Peter. I think that's what Peter wants, too. ”

John Seidler, 65, has a home in San Diego and regularly watches the Padres play. Many say he watched more than 60 games at Petco Park in 2024. John Seidler has been one of the Padres' shareholders since a consortium led by Peter Seidler and Ron Fowler bought the team in 2012.

John Seidler attended the bosses' meeting but did not give an interview. The Padres explained why he did not give an interview, citing litigation issues and the pending appointment of John Seidler.

Rob Manfred and others pointed out that the league was happy with the terms of the Peter Seidler Trust, which stipulated that it was up to the trustees to decide who was in charge of the team.

"The issue of the lawsuit that has been filed is between Peter's widow and the trustee of the trust, and [actually] has no connection to the baseball world," Rob Manfred said. "We had Peter's estate planning and succession plan filed with a clear and written statement of his intentions, and we followed the procedures set out in the plan. That is, the trustee appoints the successor controller. ”

Sheel Seidler's lawyer issued a statement after the vote.

"It was just a routine decision made by Major League Baseball, and we expected it," Dane Butswinkas said. "This is not a verdict on the substance of the Hill lawsuit, which has only just begun, and we believe it will protect the team and Peter's legacy for years to come."

In addition to claiming that they are partners in running the Padres with Peter Seidler and that they should be appointed as the controllers (which Matt Seidler and others deny), the lawsuit alleges that the Sedler brothers may be considering selling or relocating the team. Matt Seidler denied this in a letter to fans and in his response to the lawsuit on January 27, a day after Sheel Seidler filed the lawsuit on January 6, and Rob Manfred also touched on the topic on Thursday.

"As far as I know, the Seidler family wants to keep this team," he said.

When asked about the possibility of the team moving, Rob Manfred seemed a little incredulous.

"There's never been a word about the San Diego Padres moving," Rob Manfred said. “…… San Diego is a great market with great facilities. This is really not a real concern. ”

In addition to the lawsuit and related turmoil, John Seidler's ascension to the controls is widely seen as a continuation.

The Padres plan to keep their total payroll at around $200 million, which they believe would put the team in the top 10 of the 30 teams in the major leagues.

Eric Kutsenda, a longtime friend and business partner of Peter Seidler and a minority shareholder in the Padres, will continue to be the team's leader until John Seidler takes over. Eric Kutsenda, who took over as chairman just days after Peter Seidler's death, will then move to the post of adviser.

But the team's message is that the new owner is expected to continue the style of the old one.