Baseball exec gets suspended for keeping secret medical records

Recent controversies surrounding the release of medical records have claimed Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump, and as of Thursday, 25 Olympic athletes.

Add one baseball executive to that list.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday it has suspended San Diego Padres General Manager A.J. Preller for 30 days. Though MLB's statement doesn't cite any specific violations by Preller, ESPN's Buster Olney reported the Padres have been accused of keeping two sets of medical records on their players — one public, one private.

MLB uses one primary database called the Sutton Medical System, where teams disclose their players' medical treatments — including things like "hot tubs, aspirin and anti-inflammatories," Olney writes. This system is accessible to all teams, and comes in handy during trade season, when a player's medical status can make or break a deal.

And that's exactly how the Padres allegedly abused it.

In two separate July trades, the Padres shipped damaged goods to other ball clubs, who reportedly found out that some of their new players had been receiving undisclosed preventative treatments for weeks.

Here is Major League Baseball's official statement:

"Major League Baseball has completed an investigation into the July 14th transaction in which pitcher Drew Pomeranz was traded from the San Diego Padres to the Boston Red Sox. MLB’s Department of Investigations conducted the thorough review, which included interviews with relevant individuals from both Clubs. The findings were submitted to Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr.

As a result of this matter, Major League Baseball announced today that A.J. Preller, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Padres, has received a 30-day suspension without pay."

Preller has run afoul of MLB rules before. He was fined by MLB last year for holding an illegal workout in Aruba. The league also suspended him for violating international signing rules in 2010, when he was an assistant general manger with the Rangers.

Preller called his latest suspension a "learning process" and denied any intentional wrongdoing.

"I want to emphasize that there was no malicious intent on the part of me, or anyone on my staff, to conceal information or disregard MLB's recommended guidelines," Preller said in a statement released by the Padres on Thursday. "This has been a learning process for me. I will serve my punishment and look forward to being back on the job in 30 days."