Padres News: Bob Melvin Talks Relationship With AJ Preller Following Report of Turmoil

The Padres manager downplayed the reported rift.

It's not a state secret that the San Diego Padres have vastly underperformed this season.

After they were expected to be contenders in the National League, the team instead sits well out of a playoff spot, under .500, and have just a 0.1 percent chance to make the postseason, per Fangraphs. And the team has finally started to win, doing everything they can to have the faintest of hope for October baseball. 

Despite having a roster full of stars in their lineup, a Cy Young contender at the front of their rotation and arguably MLB's best closer at the back of their bullpen, things have never fully clicked for the Padres this year -- and reported turmoil in the organization may have a lot to do with that. 

Third baseman Manny Machado's leadership was recently questioned, and a wide-ranging report from Dennis Lin of The Athletic detailed a multitude of issues in the organization, information relayed to him by current and former Padres players and team staff members. 

One of those centered around manager Bob Melvin and Preller, communication problems with the two in particular. 

For his part, Melvin downplayed the severity of the reported rift, telling reporters on Tuesday afternoon that the GM and himself "get along fine," per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

“We get along fine, but we’re going to have our differences of opinion,” Melvin said, “and I think a lot of times that’s healthy in trying to get to the right spot, and when you’re not performing well, sometimes you’re going to have some differences.”

via Jeff Sanders

It remains to be seen just how this difficult year will end, and while things haven't been pretty on the field, it may just be even more rocky in the higher levels of the organization.