Sheel Seidler drops her lawsuit against other Padres owners

The Padres inch closer to selling the team, SDFC's offense explodes late against Pumas, SDSU bounces back after a loss, Lindsey Vonn won't be stopped by a torn ACL, and more.

Hi. This is the part where I usually write a little intro or promote some piece of content that I created yesterday. I didn’t create any Bandwagon Beach content yesterday, but I did jump on Talking Friars with Ben Fadden and I think maybe scared him with just how pessimistic I’ve become about the future of the Padres:

Enjoy?

Now, onto the links!

San Diego Padres

After fight for control of Padres, late owner’s widow and brothers reach agreement - The Athletic
The family feud over control of the San Diego Padres appears to be over, according to a court filing on Monday, which revealed that the widow of Peter Seidler has dropped the bulk of her claims against two of the late owner’s brothers.

According to the filing, Sheel Seidler dismissed almost all of her claims in the lawsuit she brought in Texas probate court last year, when she accused Matt and Bob Seidler of breaches of fiduciary duty and fraud in their roles as trustees of Peter Seidler’s trust.

Padres Top 30 Prospects for 2026 – Fahrenthold Edition - MadFriars
On the surface, it appears they did well during last month’s international signing period, but until any of those players steps onto the field, they’re extreme unknowns. Across national publications, San Diego has just one consensus top-100 prospect. Those same publications have placed the Padres’ farm system among the bottom five in baseball. A year ago, I disputed those claims; this season, I do not.

This is perhaps the thinnest the farm system has been in Preller’s tenure. Needless to say, the water is very murky at the moment. Yes, there are a number of prospects who present higher ceilings, plus tools, or solid long-term projection, but many of them have major question marks attached to their profiles or minimal track records.

San Diego FC

In another franchise first, SDFC beats Pumas in Concacaf Champions Cup opener - San Diego Union-Tribune
Tuesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup opening-round matchup with Mexico’s Pumas UNAM marked San Diego FC’s first competition of 2026.

It took about 60 minutes for the team to play in mid-season form.

Four different goal-scorers came through for SDFC in a late-match barrage spanning just 18 minutes, and SDFC romped to a 4-1 victory at Snapdragon Stadium.

San Diego FC erupts in second half for 4-1 win over Pumas - NBC 7 San Diego
In typical SDFC fashion Mikey Varas’ team controlled the first half, but was unable to capitalize. Meanwhile Robert Morales was opportunistic for the visitors, connecting on a beautiful scissor kick to give Pumas a 1-0 halftime lead.

In the 68th minute the match flipped. Anders Dreyer swung a corner kick into the box, and last year’s No. 1 pick Manu Duah sent a header past Pumas goalkeeper Keylor Navas. It was Duah’s first professional goal.

From there the floodgates opened.

Odds & Ends

Reese Dixon-Waters scores season-high 23 points as Aztecs return to winning ways - San Diego Union-Tribune
It wasn’t as easy as it probably should have been Tuesday night against Wyoming, but it was a victory nonetheless – a 72-63 decision defined by sometimes listless play, clanked free throws, Cowboys’ resilience and ultimately too much Reese Dixon-Waters.

That made coach Brian Dutcher’s teams 52-11 in games following a loss and 37-2 when it’s at Viejas Arena.

That also momentarily moved the Aztecs (16-6, 10-2) into sole possession of first place in the Mountain West, although they’ll have company Wednesday after Utah State and New Mexico, both 9-2, meet in Albuquerque.

San Diego Wave’s Kenza Dali may never quit football - SB Nation
Despite the individual accolades and team success, Dali described 2025 as one of the loneliest seasons of her career, adjusting to life far from home.

“The European players have actually talked about this,” Dali said. “People don’t see how challenging it is. You can’t always catch up with your family or friends because there’s a nine-hour time difference. You really have to learn how to be with yourself.”

After the summer international break, San Diego struggled, earning just one win in 10 matches when they returned. Looking back, Dali said the stretch was a valuable lesson for the team.

“We discussed it with (Eidevall): how can we avoid the downfall we had at the end of the season?” Dali said. “The NWSL is so demanding — physically and mentally. If you really watch the teams that were successful, they implemented really important players during the summer break. You need to see what type of strategy you want.”

San Diego will host Olympic soccer matches in 2028 - San Diego Union-Tribune
“This is a huge moment for our city and everyone who believes in the unifying power of sports,” Mayor Todd Gloria said at the Snapdragon event. “San Diego is ready for the world stage. We are a sports city, we are a soccer city and we are without question a global city.”

No specifics were revealed – which games or which gender – only that stadiums in six cities have been added to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, which will host both finals: San Diego, San Jose, St. Louis, Nashville, New York and Columbus, Ohio.

The match distribution per venue is expected to be announced in April, when tickets go on sale, although the tournament draw won’t take place until a few months before the competition.

Lindsey Vonn doing ‘jumps’ in rehab, coach tells AP ‘no doubt’ she’ll race in Olympics with torn ACL - Associated Press
Lindsey Vonn needed to use a crutch to get around over the weekend. Now she’s performing box jumps, working out in a pool while wearing a weighted vest and skiing at high speed.

No wonder the 41-year-old American is so optimistic that she can compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics downhill on Sunday despite a ruptured ACL in her left knee.

“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream,” Chris Knight, Vonn’s head coach, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK.”

James Harden-Darius Garland trade: Is the Cavaliers’ big swing all about Donovan Mitchell? - Yahoo Sports
Since trading for Mitchell before the 2022-23 season, the Cavs have angled themselves toward an aspirational future — one in which Garland firmly establishes himself as a perennial All-Star, Mobley’s offensive game catches up to his Defensive Player of the Year work, Allen connects the dots on both ends, and Mitchell shines as the kind of star capable of being the preeminent offensive force in whatever seven-game series he enters. After years of that bitter aftertaste, though, and sitting at 30-21, you can understand why the Cavs might feel pressure to make decisions based not on what they might be, but on what they are: a team with one bona fide All-NBA-caliber offensive player — one who’s eligible for a contract extension this summer, and who could become the belle of the 2027 free agency ball if he doesn’t sign it — and a whole lot of questions to answer beyond that.

NFLPA’s interim boss: Players ‘have no appetite’ for 18th game - ESPN
Despite a renewed push from NFL ownership to move toward 18 regular-season games, NFL Players Association leadership made it clear Tuesday that the players aren’t in support of an expanded regular-season schedule.

“Our members have no appetite for a regular-season 18th game,” NFLPA interim executive director David White said at the union’s annual Super Bowl week news conference, citing player health and safety concerns that come with a longer regular season. “... The 18th game is not casual for us. It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiations, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of those factors, take that into consideration and then through negotiations, agree or not to the 18th game.

“But as it stands right now, players have been very clear they don’t have any appetite for it.”

Newell’s Old Boys planning Lionel Messi return in 2027, vice president says - The Athletic
The vice president of Lionel Messi’s boyhood team Newell’s Old Boys says the club are working on plans to bring the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner back to the side in 2027.

Messi, 38, played for the Rosario-based club in Argentina from the ages of six to 13 before joining Barcelona’s La Masia academy.

The forward never played a senior game for Newell’s but scored 234 goals for their youth teams and one of the stands in their Estado Marcelo Bielsa home is named after him.

“We are working on Leo playing for Newell’s in the first half of 2027,” the club’s vice president Juan Manuel Medina told Argentine publication TN, confirming that nothing had been decided or finalised but that the idea had started in 2024.