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Report: Padres adding staff to ensure medical regulation compliance

Jake Roth / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Following the unprecedented suspension of their general manager for failing to disclose medical information in a July trade, the San Diego Padres are reportedly beefing up their staff to ensure it doesn't happen again.

On top of finding a new president and CEO this offseason, the Padres also plan to hire one or two people, working under GM A.J. Preller, to ensure the club complies with the league's medical regulations, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Preller, who returned from his 30-day suspension (without pay) Wednesday, accepted "full responsibility" for failing to disclose medical information pertaining to the July 14 deal that sent left-hander Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for top prospect Anderson Espinoza.

"I accept full responsibility for issues related to the oversight of our medical administration and record keeping," Preller said in a statement. "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. 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."

Though MLB commissioner Rob Manfred gave the Red Sox the opportunity to rescind the deal after the Padres' illicit conduct was discovered, the eventual American League East division champions weren't interested, he said.

"As I said, their response to that was they were not interested," Manfred told NESN's Sam Galanis. "And I understand why. The trading deadline had passed and options had been foreclosed, and I also understand that the rescission rule, in that particular context, is a little difficult to manage. The alternative was equally bad in my opinion."

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