MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred praises Padres — then questions the long-term viability of spending

The Padres have become an outlier and a league-wide curiosity — a small market team that spends money.

Their investment in players has drawn the private ire of some team owners ever since Peter Seidler assumed the chairman’s role and the team began handing out big contracts in 2021. And last month, Rockies owner Dick Monfort took the rare step of publicly questioning the wisdom of the Padres’ spending.

On Wednesday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred weighed in. He first confirmed a Union-Tribune report that the Padres will be a payor into the revenue sharing system next year, based on their team-record revenue generation.

“I think there’s real positives in the Padres’ story,” Manfred said.

Speaking at a Cactus League media event, Manfred went on to intimate he has at least some level of skepticism about the long-term viability of their spending.

“The trick for all smaller market teams has always been sustainability,” Manfred said. “Hats off to Peter Seidler. He’s made a massive financial commitment — personally — to making this all happen. The question becomes: How long can you continue to do that, and what happens when you have to go through a rebuild? But they have done a really, really good job of capitalizing on their talent to drive their revenue.”

The Padres’ projected payroll of more than $243 million ranks third in the major leagues, the highest the team has ever ranked. They trail only the two New York teams. No other “small-market” team is ranked in the top 14.

The last time a team not among the league’s top 10 media markets had a payroll ranked in the top 5 was the Detroit Tigers in 2016. The 2008 Tigers were the last such team to be ranked in the top 3.

The last team to win a World Series without having one of the league’s 10 highest payrolls was the 2017 Houston Astros.

Padres CEO Erik Greupner acknowledged last week there is “risk” in the Padres’ approach and said, “I think we’re in that transitional phase right now of really learning and understanding how much we can grow revenue.”