Former All-Star Gomez accuses MLB of discriminating against certain players in drug testing
Two time MLB All-Star Carlos Gomez thinks there’s a lot wrong with how Major League Baseball tests players for performance-enhancing drugs, and he’s not afraid to publicly voice his complaints.
In the wake of Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano’s 80-game suspension for a banned substance called furosemide, Gomez went off on how MLB allegedly discriminates against older and Latino players when testing for PEDs.
“It’s not random. It’s not random. I can put my hand on fire, it’s not random,” Gomez recently told “Yahoo Sports MLB Podcast” host Jeff Passan. “They pick guys. I think it’s something the way you play, the way you act.”
Gomez, who currently plays for the Rays, said that as the “oldest player on the team,” he has to put a lot of effort into taking care of his body so he can perform at a high level. But the 32-year-old indicated he gets tested more often than other players, and it makes him “furious.”
“I have to work harder to maintain my body to support the rest of the season,” Gomez said. “When I do that and they come to you and have a drug test every time, you get furious. You get mad. One month into the season I got like seven drug tests. Something like that. Between five or seven.”
“That’s not right. We have a guy on the team who for sure hasn’t had one drug test.”
Addressing Cano’s suspension directly, Gomez said he doesn’t think what happened to the Mariners star is fair. Though Cano has had a long, standout career, people will now associate him with the suspension, Gomez said.
“That guy has a career that’s Hall of Fame right now. And that’s going to follow him. For 15 years that guy’s been tested and clean every single time. Now they’re gonna have that black tar on his life. ‘Oh, you tested positive,'” he said.
Per Yahoo Sports, Gomez said veteran players and Latinos are being specifically targeted. However, an MLB spokesperson said drug testing, which it insisted is random, is in the hands of an independent program administrator, and that MLB doesn’t choose who gets tested.
Gomez, though, isn’t buying it. He particularly took issue with the fact that wherever he is, be it at home or on vacation, he has to submit to random drug tests.
“I’m at home in the Dominican, every time I go on vacation I need to call them that I’m going to be that way. I’m going to be there, here, like it’s uncomfortable because anywhere they can show up and give you a test. In the Dominican last time twice. And this year I’ve gotten as many drug tests as anyone on the team,” he said.
“Fine, you can do it, but it’s embarrassing. After the game you come to celebrate and they grab you, ‘you need to pee’ or ‘we need your blood.’ In one week I had two blood tests. Two in one week. I mean, like, what are you looking for?”
Gomez also thinks it’s unfair that players can be suspended for taking banned substances even if they did so for health reasons.
“If I get the flu I’m going to take that medicine for the flu, not to perform better on the field. … But you guys know already that it’s nothing related to baseball why you suspended that guy,” he said. “If the organization find what the guy uses exactly and it’s something to help the performance, you suspend him. But if it’s something like for health, it’s not fair.”
Of course, it’s impossible to know if MLB really is targeting players. Obviously, if they’re doing solely based on a player’s heritage, then that’s wrong.
However, Gomez may be a bit off base by claiming older players shouldn’t be tested more frequently. As a player gets older, his body breaks down, meaning he shouldn’t be able to perform like he used to anymore.
There are exceptions to this rule, but some players (Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds come to mind) inexplicably get better as they age, thus setting off red flags.
There’s a fine line between not discriminating but at the same time not turning a blind eye to PED usage, and MLB needs to find it.
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