San Diego Padres owner Jose E. Feliciano’s comments on Wednesday made headlines when he mentioned that Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter “owns a lot of dinosaurs.”
Feliciano and Kwanza Jones, his wife and co-owner of the team, were speaking to a group of reporters on the field ahead of Wednesday’s wild-card Game 2 against the Chicago Cubs.
Feliciano was asked about the Dodgers, and jokingly asked if it would be off the record (knowing there were plenty of cameras in his face).
Then, he made a comment about Walter, who Feliciano co-owned Chelsea Football Club with until recently, when Walter sold his stake.
“The owner of the Dodgers owns a lot of dinosaurs,” Feliciano said with a laugh as he walked out of the media scrum.
A reporter then replied, “On the field?” to which Jones was almost surprised to hear as she looked back, laughed and continued walking off.
New Padres owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones on the field talking to reporters before Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Game.
Feliciano: “The owner of the Dodgers owns a lot of dinosaurs.” 🦖🦕 pic.twitter.com/8mLZldS87L
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) October 1, 2026
Of course, the comment went viral on social media. Any time someone affiliated with the Padres mentions the Dodgers — even when they’re asked about it — the comments will make headlines.
However, Feliciano wasn’t taking a shot at his former business-partner-turned-rival. He was just making a comment on Walter’s hobby: collecting dinosaur fossils.
A 2012 report from Pensions&Investments revealed that Walter purchased dinosaur fossils for his Chicago office building, “including a 4-foot-high Tyrannosaurus rex head for about $70,000 that sits near his office on the 49th floor of a Chicago skyscraper.”
A 2014 story from the Chicago Tribune added more details about his office, “which is decorated with pieces from his collection of dinosaur fossils and a few of his daughter’s drawings.”
“Upon entering Guggenheim’s 49th-floor reception area,” Melissa Harris wrote at the time, “one first notices the giant Tyrannosaurus skull.”
Many on social media, of course, didn’t do their research before jumping to claims that Feliciano was calling the Dodgers’ roster old. But Feliciano was merely discussing his rival owner’s somewhat obscure taste in art.
Can the Padres and Dodgers Meet in the 2026 Postseason?
The National League West rivals are getting set for their respective NL Division Series. If both teams win, they’d meet in the NL Championship Series in a rematch of the 2024 NLDS, which the Dodgers came back to win in five games after being down 2-1.
Padres manager Craig Stammen was asked if the team was thinking ahead to a potential matchup with the Dodgers in the NLCS.
“Still a long road to go, but I think a lot of people are looking for that National League Championship Series against your rivals upstate,” a reporter asked Stammen after Wednesday’s game that completed the Padres’ wild-card sweep.
Stammen, obviously, discarded that question rather quickly.
“You’re right, it is a long ways away,” Stammen said with a laugh. “Milwaukee has been the best team all year. It’s going to be a very tough series, five-game series against them. We’re going to have to play our best, just like we did against the Cubs, to knock them out, and then we’ll see where we’re at after that.”
For now, the Padres are focused on the task at hand, which is a matchup with the 103-win, top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers.
If they get through Milwaukee, they’ll see if the division-rival Dodgers are waiting for them.
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