SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. _ As the general managers' meetings wound down here Wednesday, Major League Baseball's chief legal officer spoke on a matter that concerned all 30 clubs. One in particular, the Padres, has been under the microscope for months.
"We've talked about medical records given the issues we had this season, and I think we're going to focus on trying to do even a better job of standardizing that process when clubs exchange records," Dan Halem, MLB's top lawyer, told reporters. "General managers received an update on that whole process."
The GM meetings, which end Thursday morning, provided the first occasion for San Diego's A.J. Preller to mingle with all 29 of his peers since his return from suspension. In a jarring decision announced Sept. 15, MLB banned Preller for 30 days without pay after determining that the Padres withheld medical information in the July trade that sent left-hander Drew Pomeranz to Boston.
By all appearances, Preller has not encountered significant roadblocks since his suspension ended in October. He estimated late last month that 10 clubs already had contacted him to inquire about players. He reiterated this week that he had learned from the events leading to his penalty and that the Padres intend to be "best in class" in terms of complying with league guidelines.
So far, rumblings that some rivals would avoid dealing with Preller have remained speculation.
"You want the best players possible," said Michael Hill, Miami's president of baseball operations. "So if they're in San Diego and you have an opportunity to improve your club or your roster, then full steam ahead. ... In our game, it's difficult to make trades, so you don't want to eliminate anyone or a possible source where you can do deals."
Like the Red Sox, the Marlins alleged that the Padres failed to disclose medical information this summer. One day after San Diego dealt Colin Rea to Miami, the right-hander exited his debut with an elbow injury. An MRI later revealed a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.
The situation was rectified when the two teams reworked the original trade; the Padres sent back pitching prospect Luis Castillo, and an injured Rea returned to San Diego.
"It was one of those things where we had to adjust, and we sent Colin back and got Castillo back," Hill said. "I think we all move forward and put that behind us."
MLB offered the Red Sox an opportunity to rescind the Pomeranz trade _ which landed the Padres one of the game's top pitching prospects, Anderson Espinoza _ but Boston declined the offer. The primary reasoning, according to Commissioner Rob Manfred, was that the trade deadline had passed.
Still, some around the game felt that MLB's discipline was not harsh enough. In September, reacting to news of Preller's suspension, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner told NESN: "I think it's fair to say ... that we were extremely disappointed in the decision. We feel that some wrong was committed and it's important to have a level playing field, and the Padres didn't play on it."
Dave Dombrowski, Boston's president of baseball operations, has publicly said little about the situation.
"That's over and done with at this point," Dombrowski said Wednesday. " ... We have moved on for a long time."
Asked whether he had spoken with Red Sox officials regarding their complaints, Preller noted that he met with Dombrowski when the Red Sox visited San Diego in early September. "But," Preller added, "I think really we viewed it as we've done what we had to in terms of making sure that we've learned from the situation, that we're going to be clearly in compliance going forward."
As part of a "remediation" plan submitted to MLB, the Padres intend to add a front-office position charged with oversight of medical record-keeping. The new hire likely will operate under more formal standards provided by the league.
"This is kind of an area where we've been moving each year since we adopted the electronic medical records ... to get more consistency and standardization across clubs," Halem said. "It was largely left to a committee of athletic trainers to determine the types of records each club should maintain and how to maintain them. We're going to formalize it a little more and contemplate pushing for guidance in terms of what has to be in and what has to be out. Just make sure everybody has confidence in the system."
Halem did not provide a timetable for when the new guidelines will be introduced.
"I think this was coming irrespective of the issues we had this season," he said, "but I do think it's a good change given that clubs really rely on the integrity of the records they receive from other clubs in making trades or signing free agents."
Executives not involved in the Padres' questioned trades have spoken of a desire for more universal protocols.
"The medical review process across the industry, it varies," Baltimore Orioles GM Dan Duquette said. "Some clubs and some doctors have more perspective on it. Information is weighted differently by the technicians that assess the data. ... It's so variable, having certain minimum standards would be helpful for everyone."
"I think codifying it makes sense," Chicago Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said. "There's always a grey area. I think not having a grey area is good in something as serious as this, because careers are on the line, you're making big trades and big bets on players, and I think all we want to know is that you're doing it with the most perfect information you can have."
While industry sources say some clubs are now more wary of trading with the Padres, there has been no indication that anyone would refuse that option entirely.
"There's a finite number of players out there, there's only 30 teams," Hoyer said. "The idea of teams deciding that they're going to cut off access to a market of players, it's not going to happen. I think this game has shown that over and over and over. But I do think that the medical stuff has been a hot topic here, and I do think there's going to be a lot of excess scrutiny with every team about how they go through the process."
