Padres brass tarnished

Major League Baseball suspended San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller yesterday (September 15) for 30 days without pay following an investigation into the trade of pitcher Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox. The story was broken by Buster Olney, senior writer for ESPN and a former Union-Tribune sports writer.

Major League Baseball said it is looking at the Padres' handling of medical information of players they were trading. League investigators interviewed officials from both teams and submitted findings to the commissioner. By the end of Thursday, the organization considered the matter closed.

Multiple sources told ESPN that the Padres may have learned techniques of crooked business executives. Padres officials apparently instructed athletic trainers to maintain two sets of medical information on players: one for industry consumption and the other for internal use.

Trainers were told that two sets of records positioned the team better for trades, according to ESPN sources. In business, some companies keep two sets of books: one for the Internal Revenue Service and one for internal use.

Preller said he accepted full responsibility for oversight of the players' records and claimed there was "no malicious intent." He said he has learned from the process and looks forward to being back on the job in 30 days.

According to sources, officials of three teams — the Red Sox, Miami Marlins, and Chicago White Sox — were enraged by alleged veiling of medical information that would have been critical in trade negotiations.

Before joining the Padres, Preller worked for the Texas Rangers and in 2010 was suspended for violations of rules about signings of players.

Padres brass said there was no intent to deceive other teams.