It seems like the ownership turmoil is going to have a long-term impact on the San Diego Padres. The team was already reported to be trading away their prized possessions given their reduced payroll for this year, and it seems their farm system also took the hit. Now, this system is the base, especially for the low-tier teams, offering a continuous flow of young talents. These low-tier teams cannot compete with the deep-pocketed teams in terms of offering fatter paychecks and landing big names and young talents from their farm system, which is the savior here. 

For the Padres, their limited payroll this year has taken a toll on their talent development system, causing them to rank at the lower end among all the teams. San Diego’s GM A.J. Preller’s preferences for immediate success over long-term benefits caused the Padres’ farm system to be depleted, with only a few top prospects remaining. Since the ownership issues started to affect the team operation, the Padres are financially not sound enough to pick up free agents and compete with other teams for the big names. In this case, the only option left with them is to go for trading, offering their top prospects to get a few major league names for the team.

The Padres took Dylan Cease from the White Sox in 2024 for the exchange of Steven Wilson, Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, and Samuel Zavala. Thus, four of their top prospects went away for a single player! The latest reports suggest that ownership turmoil in the Padres forced them to cap their payroll this year, leaving them with less choice from the free agency. The only viable option left to trade their remaining prospects is getting a few major league names.

According to Baseball America, the Padres are the #26 ranked team in terms of farm prospects. This shows the rapid downfall of the team due to the aggressive trading initiated by Preller. In addition to this, ownership issues at the Padres are also forcing the talents to think otherwise and be willing to get traded – Jurisckson Profar, the Padres’ top talent, signed with the Braves, citing uncertainty in the San Diego Padres amid their ownership issues.

San Diego Padres’ ownership turmoil: Where’s the end?

The owners got busy with the lawsuits, which initially caused the team to lose out on Roki Sasaki. However, with time, the issue keeps spiraling up, affecting the Padres’ daily operation. Now, losing out on the major talents, trading away the prized possessions, and capping the payroll have already limited the team’s ability to contend this year. So what’s next for them?

Although the owners committed their plans for the team and even went to comment that the Padres are not for sale, time is ticking out in reshaping the team. The offseason is about to end, and spring training is around the corner with no hope of rebounding for the Padres. Fans will be wise to not bet on them this year, and 2026 can be the year to go for glory.

Proper planning and enough investment from now can help to field a contending team post-2025 season. Nevertheless, there are still future uncertainties lingering around the Padres, and their farm system is just waiting to collapse. What do you think about the Padres’ troubles? Share your thoughts with us below.