Matt Bush Injured in a Bar Fight

Back in 2004 the San Diego Padres used their first pick in the amateur draft to select shortstop Matt Bush. There was some concern with the pick at the time, because many people felt the Padres would have been better off going after Stephen Drew or Jered Weaver. The Padres were concerned about the bonus it would take to sign either of those guys, though, and instead went with the local product Bush.

They then gave Bush a team record $3.15 million signing bonus. Bush, then only 18 years old, then went out and celebrated his newfound wealth by getting into a fight at a nightclub in Peoria, Arizona. Bush was suspended for the incident but came back after a month off courtesy of the team, and after he plead guilty to disorderly conduct, trespassing, and underage possession of alcohol.

Well, last week Matt was in a bar that was only a block away from where the fight in 2004 took place. Bet you can't guess what happened.

Padres minor leaguer Matt Bush, drafted first overall in 2004, recently was involved in an off-field fight in which he suffered bodily harm, according to persons close to him. It happened near a pub/grill in Peoria, Ariz., across from the Padres' compound.

Padres farm system overseer Grady Fuson said Bush, 22, is still participating in workouts at the club's training site.

"Obviously people are going to know he was in a fight," Fuson said. "To the extent of that fight, people are going to have to guess. How it was caused, there was support there for him.

"Obviously, there are some consequences out of this. But those are in-house."

Bush's father, Danny, confirmed that his son was involved in an altercation. "But we really can't talk about it," he said yesterday. "I talked to the Padres people and they said don't talk about it."

While it's obvious that Matt still has quite a bit of growing up to do, I don't think we should label him as a troublemaker just yet. Sure, it's the second time he's been involved in a fight at a bar or a club since signing with the Padres, but it's also been four years and the kid is only 22 years old.

I know I wasn't the most mature person in the world at 22, and I didn't have over $3 million to play with. That said, I'm sure the Padres will help speed up Matt's maturation a little bit if they hit him in the pocket book and fine him.