SAN DIEGO — Lower than a yr upcoming a stirring run to the Nationwide League Championship Layout, the high-priced, underperforming San Diego Padres are protecting themselves towards stories there’s a deficit of clubhouse management inside a dysfunctional group.

Future hinting that there were problems within the clubhouse, right-hander Joe Musgrove mentioned they have got been addressed following a tale within the San Diego Union-Tribune that puzzled the clubhouse tradition and a tale in The Athletic that steered cultural problems and disorder prolong as much as normal supervisor A.J. Preller.

Each publications mentioned the stories have been in accordance with interviews with gamers and previous membership workers who have been granted anonymity.

“You look at last year, we were one step away from being in the World Series competing for the ultimate prize. Not a whole lot’s changed this year,” mentioned Musgrove, who has spent two stints at the injured checklist. “Obviously, there were things that went on in the clubhouse this year that we didn’t do a very good job of addressing and handling. I think if we addressed some of those things sooner instead of kind of letting them fester, some of that stuff might have worked itself out. By no means is it a dysfunctional organization.”

Musgrove declined to trade in specifics, pronouncing, “A lot of stuff has been said already in these write-ups that have come out.”

“I think when you struggle like that, sometimes when things aren’t addressed when they need to be addressed or in the way they need to be addressed, I feel like sometimes the guys who are considered the leaders feel a need to step up, myself included, to try to do more than you should,” he mentioned.

Some assets within the Union-Tribune tale gave the impression to be pointing a finger at 3rd baseman Manny Machado, who helped lift the Padres to the NLCS utmost fall and completed 2d in NL MVP vote casting. Machado was once given a untouched $350 million, 11-year word in spring coaching regardless of pronouncing he deliberate to decide out this offseason from the $300 million, 10-year trade in he signed in 2019.

“We’ve talked since these articles came out as a team and addressed some stuff and Manny’s told us how he feels about it and where we stand, so we’ve cleared up a lot of that stuff,” Musgrove mentioned. “I think everything’s good in here, to be honest. It doesn’t feel like there’s tension toward one another and who’s speaking about who and whatnot.

“We want it will were treated internally and now not gotten in the market, however it’s in the market now and we’ve were given to deal with it and exit ahead.”

Machado, who missed about two weeks in the middle of the season with a fractured left hand, declined to offer specifics, too.

“Everybody’s at all times getting to have their very own opinion,” Machado said. “On the finish of the future, we walk in the market and play games to the most productive of our features. A batch of quotes of that tale have been neglected and everybody at all times has their very own narrative that they’re seeking to convince. In the long run, it’s my accountability that I didn’t play games. The true level of that is we didn’t play games excellent baseball. I didn’t play games excellent baseball and we let a batch of nation ill on this town.”

Preller brushed off talk of dysfunction and also defended Machado, saying: “Manny’s getting to be a part of the answer right here for an extended generation.

“To put everything on one player, Manny, no, that’s not the design. We don’t have one leader,” Preller mentioned. “That’s not how we designed that club.”

The Padres had International Layout aspirations entering this season, when the obese query was once how 4 extremely paid superstars — Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto — would mesh. From early on, the Padres have been wildly inconsistent offensively and there have been a number of bullpen meltdowns. The Padres were underneath .500 since Would possibly 12 day looking at the rival Los Angeles Dodgers — whom they surprised in utmost yr’s NLDS — with the NL West. The Padres have been getting ready to removing heading into the season’s ultimate year.

Future the Padres have made the playoffs two times within the utmost 3 seasons, together with the pandemic-shortened 2020, utmost yr was once the primary generation that they had a successful report in a complete marketing campaign since Preller was once rented in August 2014. There were stories of anxiety between Preller and Bob Melvin, the 5th supervisor within the GM’s tenure. Melvin, a three-time supervisor of the yr, has one yr left on his word.

The Padres folded ill the stretch in 2019, costing supervisor Andy Inexperienced his task, and had a brutal faint in September 2021, which were given Jayce Tingler fired.

Musgrove known as Machado “one of the best teammates I’ve ever had” and mentioned he “shouldn’t be taking the brunt of this.”

“This isn’t his fault that we’ve lost and had a bad year,” Tatis mentioned. “I think people expect the leader to be able to pull the team out of whatever hole they’re in. But there’s so much stuff going on this year that it’s difficult to have one person come in and do something or say something and change the entire outlook on the entire team. Everyone’s got their way of doing things.”

Machado has been stricken by means of tennis elbow and restricted to enjoying designated hitter this year. In most cases detest to speak about accidents, Machado mentioned lately he’ll have surgical procedure as soon as the Padres are eradicated from postseason competition. He’s hitting .253 this season — that will be a occupation low — with 30 house runs, 88 RBIs and a .780 OPS.

Bogaerts mentioned he was once stunned by means of Machado’s skill to play games via accidents. Future it could purpose his manufacturing to slide, “I mean, would you rather have Manny Machado in the box or someone from Double-A they just called up? Just his presence in his lineup, on the field, it just goes a long way.”

Tatis known as Machado “a great leader. He leads by example, comes every single day, making sure he’s able to be on the field no matter what. I feel that’s huge. He comes in, he has a beautiful presence inside the clubhouse and during the game. But it looks like what led to everything this year, just underperforming a little bit and people just started pointing fingers.”