Jeff Moorad’s Time is Done, but How Was it Spent?

There hasn’t been an official announcement stating Jeff Moorad will not pursue the controlling interest in the team in the future, but we don’t need one. We don’t need a press release that says Moorad officially gives up on buying the team. We know that already. What will be interesting, though, is looking back at Moorad’s time at CEO.

Moorad began his purchase of the team three years ago. In that time, we have seen the Padres trade away Jake Peavy, Adrian Gonzalez, Mat Latos, and Anthony Rizzo. To some, that may be a red flag for Moorad’s tenure. To me, it’s smart small-market business. Moorad was also responsible for brining Jed Hoyer to San Diego, who in turned started the restocking process of the Padres farm system. Moorad was also prepared when Hoyer wanted to jump ship. He quickly promoted Josh Byrnes to GM based on their relationship and past in Arizona together. Byrnes, in turn, continued the project stock-piling, and he retooled the entire team. With Moorad in the owner’s chair and Byrnes at GM, the team acquired players like Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, Edinson Volquez, Andrew Cashner, Carlos Quentin, and Huston Street. They also avoided arbitration with every player eligible this year and extended the contracts of Cameron Maybin and Nick Hundley.

Moorad had made a promos early on to slowly increase payroll and eventually opertate at somewhere around $70 million plus year in and year out. He was well on his way to keeping that promise with two consecutive years of increase payroll.

There may have been concerns about how well Moorad would fit in with the elite club of MLB owners, and Bud Selig may have questioned the team’s financing, but in his three years Moorad did nothing but improve the team. this, of course, includes the huge Fox Sports San Diego deal he negotiated. With all this in mind, let us know what you though of Moorad’s time with the Padres. Vote, leave comments, yell, cry. Do whatever you feel is appropriate, but we want to hear from you.