San Diego Padres Could Be Disciplined For Hiding Medical Info

After it was revealed that the San Diego Padres didn’t disclose complete medical information during their midseason trades this year, the team could face discipline from Major League Baseball.

Update 5:11 PM: MLB suspended AJ Preller for 30 days without pay.

When making trades in MLB, it’s standard practice for teams to disclose full medical information about every player involved. If teams didn’t, they’d earn a bad reputation around the league – and in the trade market, a bad reputation can be costly.

After making trades with the Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox in July, it was revealed that the San Diego Padres didn’t fully disclose medical information of a few players involved.

With an investigation by MLB underway, Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the Padres kept two separate medical records of their players – one for other teams, and the other for internal use.

In the Marlins deal, the Padres sent starting pitcher Colin Rea to Miami – only to see him exit a game early with elbow discomfort. Shortly after, Miami shipped Rea back to San Diego and took pitching prospect Luis Castillo back.

In their trade with the Boston Red Sox, the Padres sent All-Star lefty Drew Pomeranz to Boston in exchange for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza. Following the deal, the Sox said they learned of preventive measures provided for Pomeranz, but were not informed when the deal was being discussed.

Shana Wilson, the Padres director of communications, told Olney the team has been fully cooperative with MLB’s investigation:

"“At this point, it is an ongoing review, and we will refrain from comment until the process has concluded and we receive formal notification of the outcome from MLB,” Wilson said. “That said, there was no direction or intent on our part to mislead other clubs with respect to a player’s medical information.”"

According to Olney’s sources, the Marlins, Red Sox and White Sox were angered by what they perceived to be “strategic deception.” Olney noted one other team reached out to the commissioner’s office with a complaint, but did not name the team.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

MLB has a central medical information database known as the Sutton Medical System, which maintains the privacy of player records and is accessible to every team. While some teams like the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers are diligent when building player files, others have been less extensive.

Olney wrote that before the season, the Padres replaced athletic trainer Todd Hutcherson, who had been with the team for 18 years, with Mark Rogow, who previously worked with the U.S. Department of Defense. Here’s Olney’s explanation of how things changed when Rogow was hired:

"After Rogow’s hiring, there were a handful of meetings during spring training with the organization’s athletic trainers, for the major and minor leagues.According to two sources with direct knowledge of those meetings, the staffers were instructed by front office officials to document medical details about players into two separate systems.The athletic trainers were told to post the details of any disabled-list-related medical situations on MLB’s central system, but they also were instructed to keep the specifics about preventive treatments only on the Padres’ internal notes. One source defined the distinction in this way: If a player was treated for a sore hamstring or shoulder without being placed on the disabled list, that sort of information was to be kept in-house, for use within the organization only.According to the two sources with direct knowledge of the meetings, the athletic trainers were told that by splitting the medical files into two categories, the Padres would benefit in trade discussions."

A source told Olney that many teams vied for more extensive medical records at the winter meetings last December, but the Padres’ new directive cut their amount significantly. By midseason, the Padres averaged fewer than 10 entries for their players’ records – while the league norm is around 60.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller has a history of rule violations, as he was suspended for violations of international signings when he worked with the Texas Rangers in 2010.

An official familiar with the situation told Olney the entire trading system is built on trust.

Next: Should the Cardinals Make Wacha a Reliever?

“The whole system has to be built on trust, to some degree,” the source said to Olney. “You can’t have teams withholding medical information in a baseball trade any more than you have a car salesman not disclosing vehicle history. It can’t work. It’s about the integrity of the system.”

No word on an official punishment has been released yet, but Boston Herald reporter Evan Drellich said San Diego will likely be punished.