Former Dodgers Owner Agrees to Buy San Diego Padres

The group headed by Peter O'Malley will buy the struggling team for an estimated $800 million.

By Steven Covelman

| Tuesday, Aug 7, 2012 | Updated 2:58 PM PDT

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Former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley (Center) is the head of a group that will purchase the San Diego Padres.

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After falling short in their bid to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers, a group headed by former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley has agreed to buy the San Diego Padres.

The O’Malley group, which includes O’Malley’s sons Kevin and Brian, and nephews Peter and Tom Seidler, will buy the club for an estimated $800 million, pending approval from Major League Baseball owners later this month.

According to the Associated Press, two of the four are expected to move to San Diego to be involved in the team’s day-to-day operations.

In 1950 Peter O’Malley’s father Walter bought the Brooklyn Dodgers. Eight years later he moved the team to Los Angeles.

Under the O’Malley family’s ownership, the Dodgers won six World Series and 13 NL championships.

Legendary players, such as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills and Steve Garvey were brought in under their reign and the Dodgers became a staple in the Los Angeles community.

But after 48 years of ownership, Peter O’Malley sold the team to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Group for $311 million, the highest selling price for a U.S. sports franchise at the time.

Since then the Dodgers have made the playoffs four times and have not made a World Series appearance.

It is unclear how deep the O’Malley’s pockets are and how much they will be willing to spend to make the Padres competitive again.

The team is currently 47-64 and has one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

They have not reached the playoffs since 2006 and have had a losing record in three of their last five seasons.

Since buying the Dodgers for $2 billion, Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson, has not been afraid of spending.

Recently the team acquired stars Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino to add some offensive firepower.

In June right fielder Andre Ethier was given a five year, $85 million contract extension.

Meanwhile the Padres have dealt away their stars, such as 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez in favor of adding prospects.

Their current starting lineup features only one player above the age of 30.