Padres push back amid reports of dysfunction
SAN DIEGO — Less than a year after a stirring run to the National League Championship Series, the high-priced, underperforming San Diego Padres are defending themselves against reports there is a lack of clubhouse leadership within a dysfunctional organization.
While hinting that there have been issues in the clubhouse, right-hander Joe Musgrove said they have been addressed following a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune that questioned the clubhouse culture and a story in The Athletic that suggested cultural issues and dysfunction extend up to general manager A.J. Preller.
Both publications said the reports were based on interviews with players and former club employees who had been granted anonymity.
“You look at last year, we were one step away from being in the World Series competing for the ultimate prize. Not a whole lot’s changed this year,” said Musgrove, who has spent two stints on the injured list. “Obviously, there were things that went on in the clubhouse this year that we didn’t do a very good job of addressing and handling. I think if we addressed some of those things sooner instead of kind of letting them fester, some of that stuff might have worked itself out. By no means is it a dysfunctional organization.”
Musgrove declined to offer specifics, saying, “A lot of stuff has been said already in these write-ups that have come out.”
“I think when you struggle like that, sometimes when things aren’t addressed when they need to be addressed or in the way they need to be addressed, I feel like sometimes the guys who are considered the leaders feel a need to step up, myself included, to try to do more than you should,” he said.
Some sources in the Union-Tribune story appeared to be pointing a finger at third baseman Manny Machado, who helped carry the Padres to the NLCS last fall and finished second in NL MVP voting. Machado was given a new $350 million, 11-year contract in spring training despite saying he planned to opt out this offseason from the $300 million, 10-year deal he signed in 2019.
“We’ve talked since these articles came out as a team and addressed some stuff and Manny’s told us how he feels about it and where we stand, so we’ve cleared up a lot of that stuff,” Musgrove said. “I think everything’s good in here, to be honest. It doesn’t feel like there’s tension toward one another and who’s speaking about who and whatnot.
“We wish it would have been handled internally and not gotten out there, but it’s out there now and we’ve got to address it and move forward.”
Machado, who missed about two weeks in the middle of the season with a fractured left hand, declined to offer specifics, too.
“Everyone’s always going to have their own opinion,” Machado said. “At the end of the day, we go out there and play to the best of our capabilities. A lot of quotes of that story were left out and everyone always has their own narrative that they’re trying to persuade. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility that I didn’t play. The real point of this is we didn’t play good baseball. I didn’t play good baseball and we let a lot of people down in this city.”
Preller brushed off talk of dysfunction and also defended Machado, saying: “Manny’s going to be part of the solution here for a long time.
“To put everything on one player, Manny, no, that’s not the design. We don’t have one leader. That’s not how we designed that club.”
The Padres had World Series aspirations coming into this season, when the big question was how four highly paid superstars — Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Juan Soto — would mesh. From early on, the Padres were wildly inconsistent offensively and there were several bullpen meltdowns. The Padres have been under .500 since May 12 while watching the rival Los Angeles Dodgers — whom they stunned in last year’s NLDS — run away with the NL West. The Padres were on the brink of elimination heading into the season’s final week.
While the Padres have made the playoffs twice in the past three seasons, including the pandemic-shortened 2020, last year was the first time they had a winning record in a full campaign since Preller was hired in August 2014. There have been reports of tension between Preller and Bob Melvin, the fifth manager in the GM’s tenure. Melvin, a three-time Manager of the Year, has one year left on his contract.
The Padres folded down the stretch in 2019, costing manager Andy Green his job, and had a brutal collapse in September 2021, which got Jayce Tingler fired.
Musgrove called Machado “one of the best teammates I’ve ever had” and said he “shouldn’t be taking the brunt of this.”
“This isn’t his fault that we’ve lost and had a bad year,” Tatis said. “I think people expect the leader to be able to pull the team out of whatever hole they’re in. But there’s so much stuff going on this year that it’s difficult to have one person come in and do something or say something and change the entire outlook on the entire team. Everyone’s got their way of doing things.”
Machado has been bothered by tennis elbow and limited to playing designated hitter this month. Normally loathe to discuss injuries, Machado said recently he will have surgery once the Padres are eliminated from postseason contention. He’s hitting .253 this season — that would be a career low — with 30 home runs, 88 RBIs and a .780 OPS.
Bogaerts said he was surprised by Machado’s ability to play through injuries. While it might cause his production to slip, “I mean, would you rather have Manny Machado in the box or someone from Double-A they just called up? Just his presence in this lineup, on the field, it just goes a long way.”
Tatis called Machado “a great leader. He leads by example, comes every single day, making sure he’s able to be on the field no matter what. I feel that’s huge. He comes in, he has a beautiful presence inside the clubhouse and during the game. But it looks like what led to everything this year, just underperforming a little bit and people just started pointing fingers.”
Sports
Ranking the top 50 players in the Stanley Cup playoffs: Where do Hellebuyck, MacKinnon, Kucherov land?
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Neil Paine
As the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs began, a number of storylines dominated the conversation: Can Connor Hellebuyck turn his historic regular season into a Dominik Hašek-esque postseason run for the ages for the Winnipeg Jets? Will the Colorado Avalanche–Dallas Stars showdown be a quasi-Cup Final right away in Round 1? Is it finally the year for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to win it all, after the Edmonton Oilers came so close last season?
But beyond the matchups and narratives, it’s also a good time to take stock of which players bring the most value into the postseason.
That’s where goals above replacement (GAR) comes in — my evolved spin on earlier all-in-one value stats like Tom Awad’s goals versus threshold and Hockey-Reference’s point shares. The core idea of GAR is to measure a player’s total impact — in offense, defense or goaltending — above what a generic “replacement-level” player might provide at the same position. It also strives to ensure the league’s value is better balanced by position: 60% of leaguewide GAR is distributed to forwards, 30% to defensemen and 10% to goaltenders.
To then assess who might be most valuable on the eve of this year’s playoffs, I plugged GAR into a system inspired by Bill James’ concept of an “established level” of performance; in this case, a weighted average of each player’s GAR over the past three regular seasons, with more emphasis on 2024-25. And to keep the metric from undervaluing recent risers, we also apply a safeguard: no player’s established level can be lower than 75% of his most recent season’s GAR.
The result is a blend of peak, recent, and sustained performance — the players on playoff-bound teams who have been great, are currently great or are still trending upward — in a format that gives us a sense of who could define this year’s postseason.
One final note: Injured players who were expected to miss all or substantial parts of the playoffs were excluded from the ranking. Sorry, Jack Hughes.
With that in mind, here are the top 50 skaters and goaltenders on teams in the 2025 playoff field, according to their three-year established level of value, ranked by the numbers:
Five series of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and two more will begin Monday. Meanwhile, the two matchups in the Central Division are on to Game 2.
Here’s the four-pack of games on the calendar:
What are the key storylines heading into Monday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down last night, and the Three Stars of Sunday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
Game 1 | 7 p.m., ESPN
You might’ve heard about the 2010 playoff matchup between these two teams a time or so in the past week.
In that postseason, the overwhelming favorite (and No. 1 seed) Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin, were upset by the No. 8 seed Canadiens, due in large part to an epic performance in goal from Jaroslav Halak. Halak isn’t walking out of the tunnel for the Habs this time around (we assume); instead it’ll be Becancour, Quebec, native Sam Montembeault, who allowed four goals on 35 shots in his one start against the Caps this season.
Washington’s goaltender for Game 1 has yet to be revealed, as Logan Thompson was injured back on April 2. But there’s no question that there is a disparity between the offensive output of the two clubs, as the Caps finished second in the NHL in goals per game (3.49), while the Canadiens finished 17th (2.96). Can Montreal keep up in this series?
St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets
Game 2 | 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
The Blues hung with the Jets for much of Game 1 and even looked like the stronger team at certain times, so pulling off the series upset remains on the table. But getting a win on the unfriendly ice at the Canada Life Centre would be of some benefit in shifting momentum before the series moves to St. Louis for Game 3. The Blues proved that Connor Hellebuyck is not invincible in Game 1, and they were led by stars Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, who both got on the board.
The Jets have a mixed history after winning Game 1 of a playoff series, having gone 3-3 as a franchise (including the Atlanta Thrashers days) on such occasions. Like the Blues, the Jets were led by their stars, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, but the game-tying goal came from Alex Iafallo, who has played up and down the lineup this season.
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars
Game 2 | 9:30 p.m., ESPN
The Stars might like a redo on Game 1 after the visiting Avalanche essentially controlled the festivities for much of the contest. Stars forward Jason Robertson missed Game 1 because of an injury sustained in the final game of the regular season, and his return sooner than later would be excellent for Dallas; he scored three goals in three games against Colorado in the regular season. Also of note, teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series have won 86% of the time.
Slowing down the Avs’ stars will be critical in Game 2, which is a sound — if perhaps unrealistic — strategy. With his two goals in Game 1, Nathan MacKinnon became the third player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score 50 playoff goals, joining Joe Sakic (84) and Peter Forsberg (58). In reaching 60 assists in his 73rd playoff game, Cale Makar became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach that milestone, behind Bobby Orr (69 GP) and Al MacInnis (71 GP).
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Game 1 | 10 p.m., ESPN2
This is the fourth straight postseason in which the Oilers and Kings have met in Round 1, and Edmonton has won the previous three series. Will the fourth time be the charm for the Kings?
L.A. went 3-1-0 against Edmonton this season, including shutouts on April 5 and 14. Quinton Byfield was particularly strong in those games, with three goals and an assist. Overall, the Kings were led in scoring this season by Adrian Kempe, with 35 goals and 38 assists. Warren Foegele — who played 22 playoff games for the Oilers in 2024 — had a career-high 24 goals this season.
The Oilers enter the 2025 postseason with 41 playoff series wins, which is the second most among non-Original Six teams (behind the Flyers, with 44). They have been eliminated by the team that won the Stanley Cup in each of the past three postseasons (Panthers 2024, Golden Knights 2023, Avalanche 2022). Edmonton continues to be led by Leon Draisaitl — who won his first Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer this season — and Connor McDavid, who won the goal-scoring title in 2022-23 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs last year, even though the Oilers didn’t win the Cup.
Arda’s Three Stars of Sunday
For the last several seasons, much of the postseason narrative for the Leafs has been the lack of production from the Core Four. So this was a dream Game 1 against Ottawa for Marner (one goal, two assists), Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Matthews (two assists) in Toronto’s 6-2 win over Ottawa.
Stankoven’s two goals in the second period put the game out of reach, with the Canes winning 4-1 in Game 1. Stankoven is the second player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to score twice in his first playoff game with the club (the other was Andrei Svechnikov in Game 1 of the first round in 2019)
Howden had two third-period goals in the Golden Knights’ victory over the Wild in Game 1, including a buzzer-beating empty-netter to make the final score 4-2.
Sunday’s results
Hurricanes 4, Devils 1
Carolina leads 1-0
The Hurricanes came out inspired thanks in part to the raucous home crowd and took a quick lead off the stick of Jalen Chatfield at 2:24 of the first period. Logan Stankoven — who came over in the Mikko Rantanen trade — scored a pair in the second period, and the Canes never looked back. On the Devils’ side, injuries forced Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass out of the game, while Luke Hughes left in the third period but was able to return. Full recap.
0:44
Logan Stankoven’s 2nd goal gives Hurricanes a 3-0 lead
Logan Stankoven notches his second goal of the game to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead.
Maple Leafs 6, Senators 2
Toronto leads 1-0
The first skirmish in the Battle of Ontario goes to the home side, as the Leafs never let the Senators get very close in this one. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mitch Marner scored in the first, John Tavares and William Nylander tallied in the second, while Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies put the game away in the third. Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig — scorer of a controversial empty-net goal against Toronto in 2024 — scored for Ottawa. Full recap.
0:42
William Nylander zips home a goal to pad the Maple Leafs’ lead
William Nylander zips the puck past the goalie to give the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead.
Golden Knights 4, Wild 2
Vegas leads 1-0
In Sunday’s nightcap, the two teams played an evenly matched first two periods, as Vegas carried a 2-1 lead into the third. Then, Brett Howden worked his magic, scoring a goal to pad the Knights’ lead 2:28 into that frame, and putting the game to bed with an empty-netter that beat the buzzer. The Wild were led by Matt Boldy, who had two goals, both assisted by Kirill Kaprizov. Full recap.
0:31
Brett Howden buries Wild in Game 1 with buzzer-beating goal
Brett Howden sends the Minnesota Wild packing in Game 1 with an empty-net goal for the Golden Knights in the final second.
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