MBL: José E. Feliciano & Kwanza Jones New Padres Owners

New San Diego Padres owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones entered their introductory news conference Monday to the rhythm of an upbeat song about the team written and performed by Jones herself, a professional singer.

That might be a baseball first, but Feliciano and Jones are much more focused on accomplishing another historic first — a championship for a team that has never won it all.

“We need to win a World Series,” Feliciano said. “It’s that simple, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Feliciano and Jones, who are married, exuded energy and excitement in their first public appearance since securing their purchase of controlling ownership in the Padres earlier this month at an MLB-record valuation of $3.9 billion. Feliciano is a private equity billionaire whose investment firm owns English soccer club Chelsea, but the Padres are his team alongside Jones, his partner in business, philanthropy and life.

Jones said the couple will throw all of its considerable passion into consistent success for the Padres, but also into the improvement of life for people and communities across San Diego and in nearby Baja California.

“José and I have built a life on understanding (how to work) together, and we are all in,” Jones said. “It’s not lip service. We take it as a baseline that in everything we do, we’re all in. We’re absolutely committed to this organization, and we are absolutely overjoyed. If you heard (the lyrics in the song), we’re gonna win. We’re gonna win it all! We hope it’s sooner rather than later.”

Feliciano and Jones are taking over the Padres during the most successful stretch in the history of a franchise that has never won it all. General manager A.J. Preller’s teams have made the playoffs four times in the past six seasons, and the current group has streaked into playoff position again by winning 21 of its last 28 games.

The new owners praised the lively fan base that packs Petco Park for every home game, and they paid tribute to former owner Peter Seidler, whose aggressive pursuit of winning is still energizing San Diego even after his death in 2023.

Source: Yahoo