Phil Joins O'Malley Bid For The Padres

Tim Sullivan with the scoop, reporting that Phil Mickelson is joining a bid by the O'Malley family and says he would be investing "a lot of my own money" if their bid was accepted.

“Where I want to get involved is I want to get a personal involvement with the players and the community — personal interaction with fans, more community outreach. I want to create an emotional tie with the players and the community.”

The Padres plainly need a better class of player. They need a new owner with the means and the motivation to win back a fan base awash in apathy, submerged by cynicism and drenched in doubt. They need someone who will spend and, equally important, someone they can trust. They need to see a coherent plan and to believe it will be implemented.

They need someone with the convictions and the credibility of a Phil Mickelson or a Tony Gwynn and, preferably, both of them.

“If we were able to get control, (Gwynn) would be the first person we’d want to get involved,” Mickelson said. “He’s such an icon with the team. Hopefully, it won’t be combative.”

Update on 2012-05-29 15:54 by Geoff

**Thanks to Mike O'Malley for Tweeting Phil's past statements about buying into Major League Baseball, from a 2009 Golf Digest interview by Bob Verdi.

What about baseball? The San Diego Padres were recently on the market. 
Baseball economics are tough. Economically, all teams in the NFL have a chance to be successful, whereas in baseball, there are just a few. It's the same thing with basketball. You have a salary cap in the NBA, but it's a very soft cap.