LOS ANGELES -- There were moods aplenty in the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse Friday, one day after the Miami Marlins' Dee Gordon tested positive for multiple performance-enhancing substances in his system.
Gordon had an impact on the Marlins’ four-game sweep of the Dodgers this week, delivering the game-tying RBI in the seventh inning Thursday with a single and then scoring an insurance run later in the inning on a balk.
“It is a little unfair that if a guy tests positive that the process takes this long and guys can affect the outcome of games,” the Dodgers’ Enrique Hernandez said. “It’s unfortunate, but as far as that I can’t go any deeper because I don’t know what’s going on.”
Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford said he was stunned. Crawford said that Gordon is one of the few players he talks to all year round and that the two traded text messages late Thursday after the news spread.
“I texted him last night and talked to him about it and he gave me his side,” Crawford said, declining to go into detail on the conversation. “It is what it is at this point.”
Crawford said he never knew Gordon was using performance-enhancing substances. “It was just a shock and just real disappointing to hear, just for obvious reasons, you know,” he said.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the club asked questions about what recourse they might have for playing a series against a player who had tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Gordon was allowed to play this week while his positive test result was on appeal.
“Yeah, I think we dug a little bit, but there is no recourse,” Roberts said.
The situation is similar to earlier this season, when the Toronto Blue Jays’ Chris Colabello was allowed to play on appeal. Colabello last played April 20 and had been off to a slow start (2-for-32) after a breakout season in 2015 for the Jays.
Gordon also had a breakout season for the Marlins last year. He won the National League batting title with a .333 average over a career-best 653 at-bats and was also a Gold Glove winner. Gordon opened this season batting .266 (25-for-94) in 21 games.
“It seems like [Colabello’s] conscience was bothering him way more than Dee,” Hernandez said. “If you look at [Colabello’s] numbers last year and the numbers this year, you can tell something was going on with him.”
Crawford said he supports Gordon and feels for him but also gave his pal the cold truth.
“He’s an energy guy, smiling all the time, a young guy that worked hard,” Crawford said. “I just told him that it’s just unfortunate because all the hard work you put in the game just, kind of, is about to go down the drain a little bit. You know, whether you’re right or wrong, or you did or you didn’t, in the eyes of everybody else, it’s just not going to look good.”
Instead of being angry, Roberts said he was disappointed for Gordon and the game of baseball. Roberts was even asked if he was tempted to cheat during his playing days.
“To answer your question, no,” Roberts said. “I was just afraid of the effects afterward. I don’t know how much it would have affected my game. It would have been just deeper fly balls, maybe.”
Despite witnessing multiple positive tests for PEDs this year, Roberts would like to believe that the game is cleaner now than it was in his playing days.
“It’s just my opinion, but I think it is as clean as it’s been,” he said. “It’s continuing to get more clean. It’s disappointing -- I’m surprised by the guys who are testing positive. I know that Major League Baseball, the union, they are trying to do what they can to clean it up, and obviously we have more work to do.”