It's the beginning of a new era in San Diego Padres baseball. Padres chairman John Moores introduced new majority owner Jeff Moorad at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
John Moores opened his remarks with, "This is a day that I frankly never thought would happen."
It was likely a difficult day for John Moores as Jeff Moorad and his group have now assumed 35-percent of the San Diego Padres. In 5 years, it's believed they will assume 100-percent of the team.
Moorad began his comments with, "The Padres opportunity offers me a chance to come home, and I'm thrilled about it."
Moorad has assembled a group of investors that come from a variety of professions, including Former Dallas Cowboys QB Troy Aikman, Rancho Santa Fe Businessman Wayne Seltzer, Entrepreneur John McAvoy, Home Builder Al Baldwin, and Panda Restaurant CEO Tom Davin.
"We've put a small group together," Moorad said. "All together, I think there's twelve of us."
Jeff Moorad with Senator John McCain and Cindy McCain.
On the field, Moorad says, don't expect many changes this year. He says he's going to use this season to evaluate what the team needs and where it's proficient. "Certainly we'll have some challenges as we go forward in the short term, but over time my goal is to build a consistently winning organization that has a chance to compete for a World Series, year in - year out," says Moorad.
The ownership change also brought a front office shake up. Moorad will assume the CEO duties held for several years by Sandy Alderson.
"I certainly admire Sandy and I thank him for the service that he's provided to this organization."
As for John Moores, he will stay on with the team and continue in his advisory position.
"My involvement, outside of building this modest ballpark, has been in issues at Major League Baseball with the ownership group. I am comfortable with that. I like playing that role and it will continue."
