The San Diego Padres Clubhouse Is Reportedly A Lazy Disaster And People Are Blaming Manny Machado

SOURCE - According to virtually everyone queried in a series of more than 30 conversations with more than a dozen uniformed personnel, including eight players, and other members of the organization, there is unanimous consensus that Machado controls the clubhouse and sets a tone and personality for the team. 

It was relayed to him that the types of things that could have been disregarded included being on time to meetings and buses, pregame work, executing unselfish at-bats or demonstrating a sense of engagement on the basepaths or elsewhere. 

To ask a Padres player why no one could confront Machado on these matters is to be looked at as if you have six heads. 

There have been plenty of great baseball teams historically that have hated each other. Take the 1977-78 New York Yankees. Reggie Jackson ran that clubhouse and literally got into a fight with his manager Billy Martin in the dugout. There was a book written (The Bronx Zoo) about how chaotic this team was. They also won back-to-back World Series.

This Padres situation is very different. That Yankees team didn't like each other but they could agree on trying to win. This Padres team just doesn't seem to give a shit. That article by Kevin Acee details how not one starter came out for infield workout. Even the stats bare it out. They are 0-11 in extra inning games and 6-22 in one run games. It's one thing to be a bad baseball team. It's another not to care.

Denis Poroy. Getty Images.

I don't think it's entirely fair to pin this all on Manny Machado. He's paid to play and while he's having a down year by his standards, he's still been decent (2.7 WAR). He also has been very productive for the Padres in his five seasons there. His OPS+ is higher with the Padres (131) than it was with the Orioles (121).

If the Padres locker room could give two fucks, that's a Bob Melvin issue more than a Manny Machado one. Melvin has been in San Diego for two seasons now and has a .513 winning percentage. They also underachieved a bit in the regular season last year before turning it on in the playoffs. I don't know if it's Melvin's fault entirely but you can't fire the whole team. This team needs to make a change for next season and Melvin needs to go.

Gotta give credit where it's due. Carl was absolutely right. I've now spent hours trying to figure out why this Padres team stinks. You know that meme where the woman and man are in bed and the woman is wrong about what the guy is thinking about. That's me and the Padres. I can't get this team out of my brain. How can they be this bad in one run games? They have an elite closer in Josh Hader. They haven't been hit THAT hard by injuries. They have the fucking Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell! What are we doing here?

Back to Machado for a second. This is a mostly veteran team. It's not his responsibility or fault that other veteran starters don't go out for infield practice. To me, that's on them and the manager. These guys are supposed to be professionals. You're telling me Xander Bogaerts needs Machado to tell him to get out there? Get the fuck out of here.

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

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Regardless, this team does need a culture shock. After the 1966 season where they finished in 9th place, the Red Sox brought in a new manager who treated spring training like a boot camp. He was on the players' asses all year. That Red Sox team made it all the way to the 7th game of the World Series. That manager was Dick Williams who would later win two rings with the Oakland A's. The first manager to bring the Padres to the World Series? Dick Williams.

But, that's a old story you can't repeat in 2024. Players have so much more power than they did back then and managers are no longer drill sergeants. The Padres are going to have to figure out another way to change how this apathetic team approaches the game. You have a good owner willing to commit $250 million dollars to this team in this miserable season. How long will Peter Seidler be that patient and generous?

As a Mets fan, I know better than anyone what it looks and smells like having money set on fire. I just didn't expect to be welcoming Padres fans to the bonfire.