AJ Preller Suspended 30 Days After Investigation Of Pomeranz Trade

Following the announcement of the suspension, the Padres organization released its own statement on behalf of Ron Fowler the Executive Chairman, Peter Seidler the Managing Partner and Mike Dee the CEO and President.

On Thursday, Major League Baseball suspended Padres general manager A.J. Preller for 30 days without pay. In July, San Diego sent pitcher Colin Rea to Miami in a seven-player trade. According to Olney, the Marlins only learned at that point that Rea had been receiving treatment “for weeks” prior to the trade.

Rosenthal said other executives thought Preller should have been punished more harshly, not just because a team like the White Sox bought damaged goods, but because the Padres steered a team like the Sox away from a club that discussed trades in good faith.

Of course, it was the acquisition of Espinoza (one of the game’s top pitching prospects) that eventually led to Preller’s suspension.

The statement added that the team did not feel any intent had been involved by A.J. Preller or any other member of the operations staff to mislead any other teams. By the end of Thursday, the organization considered the matter closed.

Major League Baseball delivered one of the harshest penalties against a general manager in history. At least one other team reached out to the commissioner’s office with a complaint, sources told ESPN.

The suspension is a result of the July 14 trade that sent left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the Padres to the Red Sox.

The punishment comes on the heels of a report by ESPN’s Buster Posey, who reported that the Padres hid medical information regarding their players from the league’s data base.

From the Red Sox perspective, it’s understandable that they may have figured on something beyond the league only punishing Preller and the Padres.

When teams close in on trades, the athletic trainers usually exchange codes needed to access the medical information stored on the players in question so inquiring teams can learn about a player’s physical condition. The average number of entries is around 60.

Preller previously headed up the Rangers global scouting efforts, where he reportedly developed a reputation for being willing to push the envelope in regards to the rules. He was fined by Major League Baseball past year for holding an illegal workout in Aruba. Fowler took responsibility on behalf of management for the Padres’ struggles in recent years, assigning a share of the blame to Preller while also praising him at the same time.