Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon has been suspended 80 games without pay for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy, the league said early Friday.
The ban is effectively immediately.
The speedy second baseman tested positive for the performance-enhancing substances exogenous testosterone and clostebol, MLB said.
Gordon, 28, is in his sixth season in the majors.
The suspension comes for Gordon after he won the NL batting title in 2015, when he hit .333 with 58 steals and 88 runs scored for the Marlins.
It also comes in the first season of Barry Bonds' tenure as Marlins hitting coach. Bonds' legacy has been tainted by questions of PED use as a player.
The news was announced soon after the Marlins wrapped up a 5-3 road victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, which completed a four-game sweep. Gordon had a key hit from the leadoff spot and went 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Despite the sweep in Los Angeles, the Marlins' clubhouse was masked by hushed tones.
Third baseman Martin Prado said the Marlins would continue to play at a high level.
"I really have nothing else to say," Prado said, according to the Miami Herald. "We had a great series, and we played good baseball, the whole team. We have to continue to do that. We have a game tomorrow, and we're going to play good baseball against a pretty good team, and we want to keep that streak going."
Marlins manager Don Mattingly managed Gordon during his first three big league seasons in Los Angeles before he was traded to Miami in a seven-player deal in December 2014. Mattingly took over as Marlins manager prior to this season.
Gordon signed a $50 million, five-year deal with Miami in January. The son of former major league pitcher Tom Gordon, he has made two All-Star teams and won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards at second base last year. He is batting .266 with six stolen bases this season.
"Dee Gordon is a very important part of our team, and we all love him and support him," Marlins president David Samson said. "That said, I don't like or condone what he did. He is an important member of this organization and will be for many years to come. It's a huge, huge disappointment to the kids, to our fans, to his teammates and to everyone in our organization every single day.
"He will be back 80 games from now, and he will be welcomed back to this organization. But in the interim period, we expect him and we are positive that he will do everything that's necessary to make it up to his fans, to his teammates and to this organization."
Though the sequence of events surrounding the suspension were uncertain,Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander was quick to react via Twitter and say that if players test positive for PEDs, they shouldn't play.
"You shouldn't be allowed to [affect] games while appealing," Verlander said.
The ban is effectively immediately.
The speedy second baseman tested positive for the performance-enhancing substances exogenous testosterone and clostebol, MLB said.
Gordon, 28, is in his sixth season in the majors.
The suspension comes for Gordon after he won the NL batting title in 2015, when he hit .333 with 58 steals and 88 runs scored for the Marlins.
It also comes in the first season of Barry Bonds' tenure as Marlins hitting coach. Bonds' legacy has been tainted by questions of PED use as a player.
The news was announced soon after the Marlins wrapped up a 5-3 road victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, which completed a four-game sweep. Gordon had a key hit from the leadoff spot and went 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Despite the sweep in Los Angeles, the Marlins' clubhouse was masked by hushed tones.
Third baseman Martin Prado said the Marlins would continue to play at a high level.
"I really have nothing else to say," Prado said, according to the Miami Herald. "We had a great series, and we played good baseball, the whole team. We have to continue to do that. We have a game tomorrow, and we're going to play good baseball against a pretty good team, and we want to keep that streak going."
Marlins manager Don Mattingly managed Gordon during his first three big league seasons in Los Angeles before he was traded to Miami in a seven-player deal in December 2014. Mattingly took over as Marlins manager prior to this season.
Gordon signed a $50 million, five-year deal with Miami in January. The son of former major league pitcher Tom Gordon, he has made two All-Star teams and won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards at second base last year. He is batting .266 with six stolen bases this season.
"Dee Gordon is a very important part of our team, and we all love him and support him," Marlins president David Samson said. "That said, I don't like or condone what he did. He is an important member of this organization and will be for many years to come. It's a huge, huge disappointment to the kids, to our fans, to his teammates and to everyone in our organization every single day.
"He will be back 80 games from now, and he will be welcomed back to this organization. But in the interim period, we expect him and we are positive that he will do everything that's necessary to make it up to his fans, to his teammates and to this organization."
Though the sequence of events surrounding the suspension were uncertain,Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander was quick to react via Twitter and say that if players test positive for PEDs, they shouldn't play.
"You shouldn't be allowed to [affect] games while appealing," Verlander said.
Not so sure about that part: He still will be getting paid his 50mio, just will take 80 more games. As long as there are no financial ramifications and players contracts stay valid, i guess most of them couldn't care less. I doubt e.g. Braun with his post-PED numbers would have been get a payoff as large as he did.
If you watch that Al Jazeera report, that mentioned Manning among others, the guys selling those PEDs actually used their clients new contracts and increased salaries as their main selling point. And as long as teams aren't allowed to opt out of contracts after positive tests, I doubt that they ever make real advances in getting sports clean because it doesn't have that much of an impact on the players financial side.
