Which Padres official instructed staff to keep separate medical files?

I’m still trying to understand the reason that the Padres started keeping their player’s medical information in their own private database and not enter the same data into the league’s database if it was not to gain an edge in trades. Furthermore I think it’s important to know who made the decision to create this second database. Others do too.

ESPN’s Buster Olney was the one who first told us about the orders coming down to the athletic trainers.

San Diego Padres may face discipline after hiding players' medical information from MLB database

According to two sources with direct knowledge of those meetings, the staffers were instructed by front office officials to document medical details about players into two separate systems.

I went back and listened to his interview with the Mighty 1090’s Darren Smith for more information. Darren asked who gave the instructions and Buster answered:

I got different answers on that, which is why I didn’t specify exactly who did it.

When Darren presses further asking Buster if we’d recognize their names Buster responds:

Again I have not pinned down exactly who said what in that meeting.

Later in the week Darren interviewed the Union-Tribunes Dennis Lin and asked Lin what questions he still has after the Padres’ public statement.

Well my main question right now would be “where did those orders come from to start that new filing system?” I think Buster talked about this and I’ve heard this as well and you get different answers. I’ve heard from someone that was in those rooms during Spring Training during those meetings that they never heard those words come out of A.J. Preller’s mouth, to start filing preventative treatments into separate internal folders, but you’d have to think the head of baseball operations would know something about that.

Darren pressed Lin again asking if he had heard who it was that made the order.

Again you hear different things. I don’t think there’s anything strong enough out there to pin it all on one person when we don’t have all the information in front of us.

It’s a little disconcerting when the sources can’t agree who ordered the changes. You have to wonder how good the sources are at that point. Lin says that he’s heard claims that A.J. Preller didn’t have much to do with the filing system at all.

We get a little more information from Manager Andy Green’s defense of his co-workers. You have to wonder if this will be the Padres excuse when they are forced to comment further. Green said there was no malicious intent because it was all a result of the new Head Athletic Trainer’s misinterpretation of the orders.

Andy Green defends A.J. Preller, Padres - The San Diego Union-Tribune

What was being asked of him, and what he interpreted was being asked of him was not the same. He kept things in good conscience, thinking he was doing it in accordance of what was asked of him, and he was doing his best to meticulously document absolutely everything. But the wires were crossed. I think that’s about as descriptive as I can get on that at this point in time.

It seems like if there was truly backlash by staffers in the room at the time the orders were given, like Buster Olney said, then somehow the orders from above would have been clarified at very least to the the Head Trainer before a new database was created.

Interestingly we’re not the only ones wondering what’s going on here. Buster Olney has more information his latest blog, saying that while Padres leadership publicly supported A.J. Preller, Chairman Ron Fowler is “asking hard questions about him from behind the scenes”. Majority Owner Peter Seidler and Mike Dee however remain “firm in their support of the general manager”.

I don’t know about you but I’m interested in hearing more from leadership.