Erik Greupner meets with the media at the start of Padres Spring Training.
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00:00All right, great to be back here kicking off the 2025 season, had our first full team meeting
00:07a short while ago.
00:08I know you heard a little bit from Schulte a moment ago about how that went.
00:11You know, feeling really good about this team right now, coming into camp largely very healthy,
00:17ready to compete and build off of what we accomplished during the regular season last
00:21year.
00:22You know, last year was the second most successful regular season in franchise history and put
00:27ourselves in a position in the playoffs to compete for a World Series championship.
00:32And obviously we fell short.
00:34But coming back hungry this year with a team that is incredibly competitive, has learned
00:39how to compete alongside each other under the leadership of Mike and the same coaching
00:44staff that's going to be back this year.
00:46And we feel like we can accomplish our goal that we've had for some time as a franchise,
00:51which is to win our first World Series championship.
00:54Feel like both AJ and Mike have been given the resources that they need to put together
00:58a playoff caliber and championship caliber team.
01:00I know they agree, especially with some of the recent additions that we've made and feel
01:05really good going into the season with our leadership that's in place, Mike, AJ, myself,
01:10and our goal remains the same as a franchise.
01:13Nothing has changed.
01:14We're here to win the first World Series championship in franchise history.
01:17Feel like we have a team that's capable of doing that.
01:20Now we got to go get through a healthy spring training and play a lot of baseball games
01:24and play them at a high level and put ourselves in a position like we were last year to compete
01:28for that World Series championship in the playoffs.
01:32And the last thing I just wanted to say is just continually expressing our gratitude
01:36for our fans.
01:37We have a passionate and faithful fan base, feel like it's the best in baseball.
01:40We're incredibly fortunate to have that support.
01:43And also our employees, we've got a lot of long tenured, hardworking employees in this
01:47organization that care a lot about being the best franchise in baseball and winning that
01:52World Series championship and can't thank them enough for all the work that they put
01:57in.
01:58So with that, I'm happy to take any questions.
01:59You say that they've been given the resources they need and obviously the payroll is high.
02:04You've signed some guys for low dollars recently, but can you speak to that of how the challenge
02:09of giving them the resources they need given all the salaries that went up?
02:13Yeah.
02:14You know, our payroll has gone up significantly year over year and we have been pursuing a
02:21long term plan that was set years ago, several years ago, and we're continuing to execute
02:27against that plan.
02:28And we're exactly where we had expected to be from a payroll perspective going into this
02:32year.
02:33And we feel like we're at a level, you know, likely end up being a top 10 payroll in baseball
02:38that is sufficient from a resource perspective to go out and win a World Series championship.
02:44And that's a commitment that we've made for several years now to our fan base is that
02:48we would consistently put a team on the field that could compete for the playoffs in a World
02:53Series championship.
02:54I know that was important to Peter and remains important to us as an organization that we
02:59put a team on the field year in and year out that can compete for a World Series championship.
03:03So to your point, I feel like we have the resources, the level of payroll, the veteran
03:08leadership and a lot of, you know, great young players that are contributing early in their
03:12career.
03:14And I think we have a team like you saw last year that's capable of going out and accomplishing
03:18our goal.
03:19No offense to you.
03:20Usually there's someone standing next to you.
03:22When might we hear from him?
03:24Yeah.
03:25So John Seidler was approved by Major League Baseball as our next control person and will
03:31become the chairman after the passage as it's been reported by you and others of a 30 day
03:37period.
03:38So you'll hear from him and have an opportunity to ask him questions, get to know him better
03:43before opening day.
03:44Once that 30 day period is passed, that'll be early to mid March.
03:48And we're incredibly excited to have John step into that position.
03:51You know, he's been part of the ownership group since 2012.
03:54I've known him for 13 years.
03:56I've spent a lot of time with him at Padres games and in Padres ownership meetings.
04:01And he's got a love for San Diego.
04:02He's got a love for this franchise and a love for baseball.
04:06And he's excited to step into that role and continue what his brother Peter was leading
04:13for so many years for the ownership group that he's a part of and ultimately deliver
04:17that World Series championship to San Diego.
04:19The legal wranglings in the offseason, how much has that impacted the everyday day to
04:24day operations of the club as this has gone on?
04:27It hasn't.
04:28You know, the goal remains the same.
04:29It's been business as usual.
04:31Really we've been uninterrupted by the noise outside of the organization.
04:36We've been given the resources we need, the stability we need.
04:39Eric Katsenda has been exceptional in his role as the interim control person.
04:44You know, it's really important, I think, to know that Eric stepped into that role out
04:48of a sense of obligation for his longtime business partner and friend, Peter.
04:53And he's been a stabilizing force for this franchise.
04:56He's not done it for his own ego or self-promotion, if anything quite the opposite.
05:02But he's come in with a passion and provided really intelligent, hardworking stability
05:07and leadership for us over the last year and a half.
05:10I've learned a ton from him.
05:12And we've been clicking along.
05:14You know, nothing has changed.
05:16The goal remains the same.
05:19And as I said earlier, we have a tremendous group of hardworking employees, players.
05:24Leadership remains the same.
05:25We're back to try to do what we didn't do last year.
05:27The payroll has fluctuated pretty significantly in the last three years from $250,000 to $170,000,
05:33maybe around $200,000 now.
05:35Could you speak to what is a realistic payroll figure for the Padres moving forward?
05:40Yeah, it's a good question.
05:42You know, and we've said for years that we increased payroll and spending to give our
05:49fans and our city an opportunity to do something we've never done before, but that ultimately
05:54we knew long-term the sustainability of that payroll is going to be determined by the fan
05:59support and the level of revenue we've been able to generate in our market.
06:04You know, we remain one of the smallest media markets in baseball, yet despite that our
06:08fans have been amazing and they've supported this team and we owe them an incredible debt
06:13of gratitude.
06:15And we're at a level right now with our payroll where we're putting everything that we have
06:19that we can generate in our market into this team.
06:22For that to be a top 10 payroll is pretty amazing considering the size of our market
06:27when it comes to the media market, and I think it's just once again a testament to how amazing
06:31our fans are and the way that they've been showing up and supporting this team.
06:35But we feel like, once again, we have the resources in place to go out and compete for
06:38a World Series championship at the payroll level that we're at right now, and AJ has
06:43continued to do really an outstanding job building the roster and finding ways to put
06:48together a team that we think can be highly competitive.
06:51You mentioned the media market, what is the latest on the TV situation and how much of
06:54a challenge has it been to try and get the games on television like that?
06:58Yeah, I think the decline of the regional sports network business model has been written
07:03about extensively by Alden and others, and it has impacted us in San Diego, no doubt.
07:11We are confident that we're maximizing the opportunity that we have in our market through
07:15partnering with MLB Media at this time, and we've made our games available to more fans
07:21in more ways than it ever has been before, and in fact, we hope to announce soon a package
07:26of Saturday games that will be made available over the air, free of charge as well, simulcast
07:32this year.
07:34So one of the silver linings of the decline of the traditional media model has been it's
07:39allowed us to make our games more available than ever before without local market blackout
07:43to our fans during a period of years when there's been a high demand for this team
07:47because we've been playing exciting winning baseball.
07:49So we're going to make our way through it, but once again, confident that we're getting
07:53the very most that we can out of the opportunity in our market, and that's only been possible
07:57through the partnership with MLB Media.
07:59And obviously it's great for the fans, but no sport relies more on TV deals, local TV
08:03deals than baseball.
08:04How much of a challenge has that been and where do you guys find a balance in trying
08:07to make that money up elsewhere?
08:09Yeah, I mean look, there's not a ton of options out there right now.
08:13The decline in that business model has impacted everybody, right?
08:17And when I say everybody, everybody that runs an RSN that has been a traditional buyer of
08:22media rights, there's not a lot of options out there right now of third parties that
08:28are bidding for media rights.
08:30And so to have MLB Media as an option where we can get our games out there to more of
08:35our fans and still generate the maximum amount of revenue we can generate in our media market
08:41has been great.
08:42I think long term, that business landscape is going to continue to evolve and change.
08:47And I know it's got the commissioner's attention at the highest levels of baseball about how
08:51as an industry we continue to navigate the changing media landscape.
08:56And I'm confident in his leadership that we're going to find the best solution intermediate
09:00and long term.
09:01But right now we're doing the best with what we have.
09:03Eric, Padres fans had to watch the Dodgers sign everybody this offseason and then hear
09:07Broomers, the Padres turn the trade, Dylan Seas, Michael King, Luis Reyes to get under
09:12payroll.
09:13Does AJ need to cut any more payroll or are you guys in a sustainable spot where you are
09:16right now?
09:17Yeah, I think AJ has spoken to the fact that our goal is to be at or around the payroll
09:22level that we're at right now and field a competitive and complete roster.
09:27And so I think if we've learned one thing about AJ over the years, including as recently
09:32as last year, spring training doesn't mean that the roster is set, right?
09:37And so I think he's going to continue.
09:39I know he's going to continue to work to try to complete this roster in a way where we
09:43can go out and have the most complete competitive team possible.
09:47That may mean acquiring additional players.
09:49It may mean additional transactions that bring us players that are not on the roster right
09:53now.
09:55So you know, there's no way to know yet where that all is going to net out.
09:58But I do think the moves that you've seen over the last couple of weeks, I think have
10:02signaled pretty clearly to our fan base what has been true all offseason long.
10:06We just don't talk publicly about payroll.
10:08We're not out talking about who we're going to sign.
10:11It's a competitive advantage that we keep that within the walls of our discussions in
10:16our front office.
10:17And so we're not going to be out there during the offseason projecting what exact payroll
10:21we think we're going to end up at.
10:22We've just been out there doing what the market has brought to us.
10:25And that's what AJ is particularly good at.
10:27And as it was last year, you know, some of the players that we've been most interested
10:31in, you know, Pavetta being one of them, have come to us towards the end of the offseason.
10:37And so, yeah, we feel good about our roster right now.
10:41And I feel good about a GM who's going to continue to try to refine it and make it even
10:45better going into opening day.
10:46And what should fans expect to change, if anything, under John Seidler?
10:50No change.
10:51Goal remains the same.
10:52You know, we have had a long-term plan that was set years ago that we've been executing
10:56against, and that's to put a consistently winning team on the field that's capable of
11:01making the playoffs and competing for a World Series championship.
11:04John embraces that goal and is going to step into a role as the chairman that's going to
11:09continue to lead us towards trying to accomplish that goal and put every resource we have into
11:14trying to accomplish that goal.
11:15So nothing changes.
11:17Our leadership's going to remain the same.
11:18You know, we've got a long-tenured leadership group here involving AJ, myself.
11:23AJ's been here 11 years.
11:24I've been here 15 years.
11:27You know, Mike Schilt now going into his second year as the manager, but he's been with the
11:30organization longer than that in an advisory role.
11:33And so we've got a lot of stability as an organization, and that's going to continue,
11:36and the goal's going to remain the same.
11:38Orsolo was here for at least a couple days.
11:42Clearly you kept him.
11:43What's the status of Don Orsolo's contract?
11:45Yeah, so Don was going into the final year of his contract this year, and he's really
11:50become the beloved voice of the Padres doing play-by-play on TV.
11:56And so I'm happy to announce that we recently entered into a long-term extension with Don,
12:01and our hope and expectation is that he's going to continue to be the voice of the Padres
12:06until he's no longer a broadcaster, and we'd like to see him end his career here in San
12:11Diego.
12:12Eric, did you guys feel the need to address the situation about what's going on with Shiel
12:17with the players today, especially since obviously some of them have a relationship with her?
12:21Yeah, we had most of our players together during our FanFest several weeks ago, and
12:28we had an opportunity at that time to speak just at a high level about what had been reported
12:34publicly around the dispute, and really just letting the players know what I've told you
12:38today, which is it's not impacting the way that we operate, nothing has changed, and
12:45our leadership is stable, our focus remains the same, and that was the message, nothing
12:50more than that, and we don't want to have to put our players or anybody other than really
12:56me and ownership representatives in a position to have to speak to that, and so that was
13:00the message.
13:01I'll speak to that, we'll handle that, there's others outside the organization that are handling
13:06it, but it's business as usual for everybody else, including the players.
13:10Speaking to that, how challenging has what's been going on with the lawsuits been on this
13:14organization?
13:15You know, it hasn't really been challenging from a day-to-day operational perspective
13:19for all the reasons that I've shared, really the focus has remained the same, nothing has
13:26changed with the people that are full-time in our front office, nothing's going to change
13:31in the near future with that, and so we've just had a team that's continued to execute
13:36consistently in a way that we have in the past, and it really has not been a disruption,
13:40and we're very focused as an organization making sure it doesn't become a disruption,
13:45and I think once we start playing baseball games, it's going to be even easier to avoid
13:49any distraction.
13:51What our fans really care about is, are we committed to putting a winning team on the
13:54field that is exciting and can compete for a World Series championship, and can they
13:59come to a ballpark, have a great experience, and make memories with their friends and family,
14:05and we're going to continue to deliver that, and that's, I think, what really matters,
14:08and when we start playing baseball games, I think our fans are going to see that we
14:12have an exciting team, hopefully we stay healthy and can compete at a high level, Petco Park's
14:16still a great place to come and enjoy a baseball game, and those are the things we're focused
14:20on.
14:21Can you rule out any possibility of this team being sold?
14:25I have been told multiple times that the team is not for sale and will not be sold.
14:31The Seidler family has viewed this team as a generational asset, Peter spoke about that,
14:36the rest of his family has continued to speak about that.
14:39This team is not going to be relocated, this team is not going to be sold, the commitment
14:45remains to keep this team in the current ownership that it's in right now, and continue
14:51to run it the way we've been running it.
14:54Your perspective being well above the flexory tax line, what is the team's shot on potentially
14:59paying out taxes at the end of the year?
15:02We currently are projected to be a CBT payor this year, and we've been there in prior years.
15:09Too early to say where we end up, a lot of things can change over the course of a year,
15:13things may have been changed between now and opening day, but obviously there's a willingness
15:17that if that's what it takes to put together a competitive team that we think can accomplish
15:23the goals that we have as an organization, we would be willing to do that this year.
15:29I think that's just a further commitment, and really proof in the pudding type moment
15:34for the fan base that we mean what we say.
15:37We're not backing away from the plan to try to win a World Series championship, and we're
15:41doing everything we possibly can, putting every resource we can into fielding a competitive
15:47team that can compete for that championship.
15:49In the short term, there's been a lot said or written about cash flow, current cash flow.
15:53Where does that stand?
15:54I mean, there's been a lot of creative deals to seemingly limit some of the money being
15:59spent right now.
16:00Yeah, look, every year is different, every off-season is different, and we are right
16:07now at a point when we look to operate the team where we feel that we can support the
16:14level that we're at right now with payroll.
16:19Any team looks into the coming years and you look at what contracts are coming off and
16:26what long-term commitments you've made, and you may manage payroll from a cash perspective
16:31differently from year to year, just based on some of those factors, and it's nothing
16:35different.
16:36I think AJ and his team, Josh Stein, are particularly good at doing that, so anything that you've
16:42seen around structuring deals or the way that we've engineered the deals that have been
16:47put in place have been with a long-term view of remaining competitive as a franchise and
16:53also being as competitive as we can this year.