A.J. Preller suspended for hiding Pomeranz’ medicals from Red Sox

Major League Baseball has suspended San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller 30 days for hiding medical records from the Boston Red Sox during their trade for Drew Pomeranz.

We’ve known since early August that the Padres were under investigation for hiding medical records from their trade partners, and it seems pretty clear from both the resulting punishment and the reporting of Buster Olney that this was an intentional act of deception.

The league has added that this is the end of the story for them as far as this issue is concerned, so for those few holding out hope that Anderson Espinoza would be headed back Boston’s way, it’s time to give up that ghost.

Frankly, given the area we’re talking about here—medical records and, as a result, player health and safety—this seems like an awfully light sentence for Preller. As with the Cardinals, the league’s decision to punish only the individual and not the team (at least beyond the point of allowing, effectively, “take-backs”, which the Sox said they weren’t interested in) makes sense. But 30 days is probably not enough to deter general managers who would consider this sort of thing in the first place from going down that road.

On the other hand, it’s possible that the biggest punishment will come not from the league office, but individual teams. If Preller finds himself on the job market in the near future--and that seems entirely possible—he might well not find himself off of it for a very long time.