The San Diego Padres reportedly had an "unusual number of heated moments" throughout the 2021 MLB season beyond the recent shouting match between stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Eno Sarris of The Athletic reported Friday the issues were a factor in the Padres' on-field collapse and raised questions about whether president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is a strong enough leader for an organization that entered the year with championship-level expectations.
"There are some deep-rooted cultural problems there," a former Padres employee told The Athletic. "It's not always inviting to people with different ideas, perspectives or backgrounds.