Three minority DiamondBacks owners to sue team over stake dispute

Three minority Arizona Diamondbacks owners have filed a lawsuit against the team and its managing general partner Ken Kendrick on Tuesday through Maricopa County Superior Court, according to documents Zach Buchanan of The Athletic obtained Sunday.

The minority owners, Alfredo Molina, Jim Weber, and limited liability company Carlise Investments have claimed that the club is illegally trying to force them to increase their ownership stakes to at least 1%, or they will have their investments bought back at what has been described as "an unfairly discounted price" of $60 per unit.

"Why they would want to do that, why they would treat our clients that way, to be honest, I can't imagine," said Roger Cohen, the plaintiffs' lawyer. "It doesn't make any sense. There is no logic to it."

For the two to reach the requested threshold, Molina would have to increase his stake by $3.8 million, while Weber would be expected to invest another $6 million.

The team has defended its decision and said that it was solely an attempt to streamline ownership and boost stakes among those with shares amounting to under 1%. They even cited the league's encouragement in the matter.

A league spokesperson confirmed it is the MLB's preference for teams to have smaller ownership groups with larger stakes to aid in governance purposes, while also stating that the Diamondbacks feature a larger ownership group than the average organization.

This dispute began back on Jan. 13, when Kendrick sent a letter titled "Buy Up/Buy Out" to the 22 minority owners with shares under 1%.

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