Padres Reportedly Told Trainers to Hide Medical Information from MLB Database

The San Diego Padres are in hot water with Major League Baseball because of their lack of medical disclosure regarding players on their roster.

On Thursday, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported Padres officials instructed their athletic trainers to keep two distinct files of medical information for players on the team, with one being used only by the Padres and the other to be used by other big league teams.

As a result of the investigation, Padres general manager A.J. Preller was suspended 30 days without pay, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported there is no further punishment coming for the Padres.

The Padres released the following statements on Thursday:

Olney, citing two sources, reported that "trainers were told in meetings during spring training that the distinction was meant to better position the team for trades."

Olney noted MLB teams feed their medical information into a central database that protects the privacy of each individual and is accessible to teams when necessary. Each time a player receives treatment in the training room, no matter what it might be, that information is supposed to be filed.

In San Diego, however, Olney noted that "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."

On Aug. 6, Olney reported MLB was looking into the Padres' exchange of medical information for their trades with the Miami Marlins and Boston Red Sox. The Padres dealt Drew Pomeranz to Boston on July 14 and Colin Rea to Miami on July 29. 

Per Olney, "Sources within the Boston organization say it wasn't until after the deal was made that they became aware of some of the preventive measures that had been provided for Pomeranz."

Rosenthal reported Pomeranz and other players were taking oral medications that were not disclosed by the Padres. 

Meanwhile, Rea made his Marlins debut July 30, throwing 44 pitches in 3.1 innings before being removed with an elbow injury. Miami sent him back to the Padres on Aug. 1—getting minor league pitcher Luis Castillo back in return—and four days later, it was announced Rea would undergo Tommy John surgery and likely miss all of next season.