Padres News: Manny Machado at Center of Questionable Culture in San Diego Clubhouse

A long season of struggle in San Diego has put a spotlight on Manny Machado.

The San Diego Padres enter play on Friday sitting at 69-78, nine games under .500 and 20 games out of first place in the National League West. 

Heading into the 2023 season, the idea that the Padres would have ended up in this position would have been laughable. A roster that fell just three wins shy of a World Series berth was mostly still intact and had even added a few weapons like Xander Bogaerts and the return of Fernando Tatis from suspension.

Vibes were high at fan fest and into spring training. 

Then the season started.

The club finished the month of April one game over .500. Since then, it's been one step forward and two steps back over and over again. As the season has gone on, it's become more obvious that something isn't quite right with this team's output. A roster with this much talent wasn't supposed to be this inconsistent.

A great column by Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune opened a window into the dysfunction. (The full article can be found here and is worth the read.)

Excerpt from Acee/SDUT: The issue, several sources said they believe, is a lack of engagement. This, according to multiple veterans who have been with the Padres for varying lengths of time and most who have also played for other teams, is largely borne of the team’s best players being on their own programs to some extent. And, in particular, it is the product of there being an outsized presence who commands the room, a man who has shown the ability to carry a team but has not exhibited the ability nor inclination to lift it.

Acee is referring to All-Star third baseman Manny Machado.

Now, as Acee clearly notes in his column, Machado is not the problem. He is not the lone issue for a struggling Padres team. But, he should be the guy that is ready to set the example of what a scuffling team should be doing to get out of it.

With Manny, the Padres are not getting that.

From Acee: According to several veterans, what also does not exist is a team with a “winning culture” that doesn’t include the best players being the hardest workers and those players demonstrating in word and deed to the rest of the team what is expected and tolerated.

Yes, that does not directly call out Manny Machado. But, with him in his fifth season in San Diego and with everything that comes with the contract he signed in 2019 and the 11 year extension he agreed to this spring, he should be the guy who is the leader by example.

Day in and day out. On the field and off the field. Before, during, and after games.

When things are going well for the team, the façade of leadership is displayed. Manny plays hard and says the right things. But when things aren't going well, well, "that's just baseball" to Machado.

From Acee: To that end, several people maintain there is a leadership void in the Padres clubhouse -- at least the kind of leadership the Padres need.

When asked about clubhouse culture, Machado seemingly wasn't subscribing to that concept.

🤔 pic.twitter.com/ER6NEUwYbx

— Jon Schaeffer (@jonschaeffer) September 15, 2023

The culture Manny has created around himself also seems to be one of selective accountability. He's going to play every day -- often hurt -- and that should be enough.

According to Acee, sources from the team indicated that Machado wasn't great at following through with "action plans" that came out of each of the multiple, closed door team meetings the club had this season. Manny contested that accusation.

From Acee: 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. What some did maintain was that because Machado is such a significant voice, his not following through on the little things set a tone that essentially could not be overcome.

And for six months in 2023, the Padres were able to overcome little.

Final Thoughts

Manny Machado is not the only problem with this team. Injuries ravaged the club all throughout the season -- even in spring training with Joe Musgrove missing opening day thanks to a toe injury suffered near the end of the spring training.

Bad luck will be the story of the failed 2023 season for San Diego. And when you don't have players putting in the work to try and make their own good luck, then you're setting yourself up for that failure.

This is just the tip of the iceberg from Kevin Acee's column. I stress giving it a read for more eye opening revelations and insight from people from the team.