The early belief is that José E. Feliciano, nearing a purchase of the Padres for $3.9 billion, will be in it to win. Could that mean the Mets, Dodgers and others will have extra competition for this year’s top free agent, Tigers two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal?

Some see Feliciano resuming the winning strategy of late Padres owner Peter Seidler, a visionary who turned the club from a historically sleepy team into a force after acquiring and signing big-time stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. (and previously acquiring Juan Soto).

Seidler, incidentally, was prepared to go to $600 million for Soto long before anyone saw Soto as a $765M player.

Feliciano’s expected style should work well for recently extended, ultra-aggressive GM A.J. Preller, who signed Lucas Giolito for a prorated $3M.