San Diego Padres General Manager A.J. Preller has been suspended for 30 days following a thorough MLB investigation, the organization announced Thursday.
MLB's Department of Investigations completed their investigation into a July 14 trade of pitcher Drew Pomeranz. Pomeranz was traded to the Boston Red Sox.
After interviewing individuals from both clubs and conducting a thorough investigation, the department passed along their findings to Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr.
According to a report in ESPN, Padres officials told athletic trainers to maintain two distinct files of medical information: one for industry use, and one for the team's internal use.
Trainers were told in meetings that the different files would give the team an edge when making trades, according to the report.
Sources told ESPN that officials from at least three teams, including the Red Sox, were upset when they first learned about the practice and reached out to the MLB commissioner's office. At the time the ESPN report was published, the MLB had not published the results of their investigation.
As a result of the investigation, Preller will be suspended for 30 days without pay. It is unclear when the suspension will start.
Local
The Padres released the following statement on behalf of Executive Chairman Ron Fowler, Managing Partner Peter Seidler and President and CEO Mike Dee:
"We accept the discipline handed down from Major League Baseball earlier today and will fully comply with Commissioner Manfred's recommendations pertaining to changes with our medical administration and record keeping. Rest assured, we will leave no stone unturned in developing comprehensive processes to remediate this unintentional, but inexcusable, occurrence. To be clear, we believe that there was no intent on the part of A.J. Preller or other members of our baseball operations staff to mislead other clubs. We are obviously disappointed that we will lose A.J.’s services for 30 days, but will work closely with him upon his reinstatement to ensure that this unfortunate set of circumstances does not happen again."
Preller also released a statement through the Padres organization saying,
"I accept full responsibility for issues related to the oversight of our medical administration and record keeping. I want to emphasize that there was no malicious intent on the part of me, or anyone on my staff, to conceal information or disregard MLB’s recommended guidelines. This has been a learning process for me. I will serve my punishment and look forward to being back on the job in 30 days."
A statement on MLB.com said, "MLB considers the matter closed and will have no further comment."
