Majority owner John Moores is on the verge of selling a one-third interest in the Padres to Jeff Moorad, a general partner of the Diamondbacks, and about a dozen partners.
The announcement of that closing could occur at a media conference as early as Thursday and will come nearly three months after Moorad began the process of purchasing a portion of the team.
"We're awfully close to being able to announce the deal," Moores said when reached by telephone on Wednesday night. "Things have gone as well as I could've expected, particularly because of Commissioner Bud Selig and his staff. The process has been fairly smooth from the beginning up until now. There have been no surprises."
Sale Of Padres Nearly Complete