Four months ago, Padres managing partner Peter Seidler, responding to calls for the firing of Mike Dee, his team’s president and CEO, came out in support of his top executive. Seidler cited Dee’s influence on the franchise’s business, crediting recent revenue growth for allowing the Padres to spend heavily in the amateur market this summer.

“As our primary owner, I expect him to be our CEO for a long, long time,” Seidler told the Union-Tribune at the time. “Mike has a very long-term contract with us, and I expect him to honor it. I know we’ll honor it.”

Wednesday brought a surprising turn of events. In a one-sentence statement, the Padres announced “the departure” of Dee from the franchise, ending his tenure after more than three years.

No specific reason was given for what was described not as a firing but as a parting of ways, though officials throughout baseball question why Dee would voluntarily step down given that he wielded authority over both the Padres’ business and baseball-operations departments.


“My goal and our organization’s objective is to have stability and long-term tenure in our front office, but sometimes these changes are inevitable,” Seidler said in a statement provided separately to the Union-Tribune. “Mike is no longer with the Padres, but I know our organization is strong and on the right path.

“(Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler) and I set forth the vision for the ballclub and lead the strategic planning, in collaboration with our senior executives. We have a skilled group of professionals in the front office who will take on extra responsibility as we look to fill this position.”

Reached Wednesday, Dee declined to comment.

“Mike’s departure creates a position we will need to fill, and the search will begin immediately,” Fowler said in the statement to the Union-Tribune. “In the meantime, we will work closely with our talented and trusted senior executives to lead the organization forward.


“We will continue to work hard to build a winning ballclub and to provide our fans an exceptional experience at Petco Park. I remain optimistic about the future as we develop a core group of home-grown players who play an energetic, aggressive style of baseball.”

Fowler and Seidler declined further comment.

Dee’s exit is not related to the 30-day suspension Major League Baseball imposed on Padres General Manager A.J. Preller last month, club sources said. One other executive, Ryan Gustafson, was removed from the front-office directory Wednesday.

Gustafson, who was the Padres’ vice president of strategy and innovation, joined the team in 2013, two months before Dee was appointed president and CEO. Gustafson received a promotion last November and, according to the Padres’ media guide, was “responsible for strategic planning across the Padres’ business operations, overseeing the business analytics, (customer relationship management) and ticket operations departments.” According to sources, Gustafson had no involvement in the Padres’ baseball operations.


Efforts to reach Gustafson Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Rival officials suggested Dee’s departure may have resulted from the accumulation of internal issues, with the league-dealt discipline of Preller, who reported to Dee, perhaps being the tipping point. Sources with knowledge of the situation, however, emphasized Wednesday’s move was unrelated while declining to elaborate.

Preller was suspended without pay after an MLB investigation determined the Padres had withheld medical information from trade partners. The GM, who will return to the team Oct. 19, is not in jeopardy of losing his job, according to sources. Multiple high-ranking officials said the club will not be hiring a president of baseball operations, which would effectively demote Preller, though the Padres do intend to add a position charged with oversight of medical records.

It remains to be seen if Dee’s replacement will oversee both business and baseball operations.


Dee left his post as CEO of the Miami Dolphins to join the Padres on July 17, 2013. He returned to San Diego after having spent eight seasons as a key business executive with the Padres from 1995-2002. He spent parts of eight seasons with the Boston Red Sox from 2002-2009, the last seven of which were as the team’s chief operating officer.

In his second go-around with the Padres, Dee hired Preller, oversaw renovations to Petco Park, was involved in the team’s successful bid to host the 2016 All-Star Game and brought a variety of non-baseball events to Petco.

His tenure was also marked by controversy and, at times, sharp criticism. A number of off-the-field decisions and incidents — including the naming of the “Selig Hall of Fame Plaza,” the drafting of Johnny Manziel and a national-anthem snafu involving the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus — resulted in widespread public backlash. On the field, the Padres, despite a dramatic flurry of acquisitions two winters ago, went a combined 219-267 (.451 winning percentage) over Dee’s three full seasons in charge.

In June, a number of Padres blogs called for Dee’s firing, citing the team’s poor performance and a swell of negative publicity. Seidler responded with a vote of confidence for Dee at the time, telling the Union-Tribune, “He’s made a significant, very measurable, positive impact on the business of the Padres. Revenue has grown through all the relevant categories.


“The successful and admirable work that Mike has done has allowed us to increase our major league payroll ... and it’s also allowed us to be much more active when it comes to being a significant presence in all the relevant baseball markets. If it weren’t for Mike, we simply wouldn’t have the capital available to do all those things at the same time.”

Dee had at least another full season left on his contract, a source said. The Padres’ next president and/or CEO will be their 10th since Larry Lucchino’s exit in the fall of 2001. The list since then:

Bob Vizas

Jack McGrory*

Charles Black

John Moores**

Dick Freeman

Sandy Alderson

Jeff Moorad

Tom Garfinkel

Mike Dee

*McGrory was in and out briefly. However, Kevin Towers, then the GM, said he briefly reported to him.

**Moores never officially held the title of president or CEO but did serve as part of what he called “Office of the CEO” during some of the time Freeman was president.


dennis.lin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdutdennislin

UPDATES:

5:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.