Topic: Jeff Moorad

Jeff Moorad is a former sports agent, he is currently lead owner of the San Diego Padres and part-owner (12%) of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team. He is an Assyrian American. . He also owns a Hall of Fame Racing NASCAR team.

For many years, Moorad was a player agent partnered with Leigh Steinberg at 'Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn' ("SMD") and represented many baseball, football, and basketball players. They sold SMD in October 1999 to Assante Sports Management Group, a Canadian financial-management firm, for a reported $120 million. Assante acquired several other sports agencies. In February 2002, David Dunn left SMD to open Athletes First, taking about 50 N.F.L. players with him and opening offices about a mile from Steinberg's in Newport Beach, Calif. Extensive litigation ensued involving Dunn and Assante. Steinberg later reacquired some pieces of the agency he had sold to Assante.

When Steinberg left, Moorad renamed the firm as Moorad Sports Management. One of the most prominent players managed by Moorad during his tenure as an agent was left-fielder Manny Ramirez. In December 2000, Moorad and then-Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette famously brokered the $160 million deal which brought the enigmatic Ramirez to Boston. Ramirez subsequently switched to another agent, Scott Boras, who represented him in the deal where he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008.