Old Justin Verlander Comment Criticizing Dee Gordon for PED Use Couldn't Have Aged Any Worse
By Brendan Balsamo
Justin Verlander has been known to be a very outspoken baseball player. Throughout his career he has been very vocal when it comes to different situations around the league, and therefore has undertaken a role as an ambassador of the game.
That's why it has been so disappointing to see his team's involvement in such fishy cheating tactics. With Verlander having said very little about the whole situation, ESPN's Paul Hembekides dug up an old Verlander quote from 2016 in which he commented on Dee Gordon's use of performance-enhancing drugs.
“We're fighting and clawing for 162 games. You'd hate to see something happen here at the very end, you lose by a game or something, and you say 'What if?'”
— Paul Hembekides (@PaulHembo) February 13, 2020
—Justin Verlander, the conscious of MLB, after Dee Gordon tested positive for steroids in 2016 https://t.co/4OYaWMKOc4
It's funny that Verlander would bring up the fact that Gordon using PEDs would make a difference considering Gordon has 18 career home runs in his nine-year career, and Verlander's team won a World Series while stealing signs which was proceeded by Astros owner Jim Crane saying the cheating had no effect on the game.
Let's also not forget Verlander coming to the defense of teammate Jhonny Peralta after he tested positive for PEDs, but had disparaging comments regarding Gordon and Robinson Cano. His take on Gordon is especially problematic in both scenarios considering sign-stealing more than likely affected the outcome of many, many games.
What if, Justin?
Justin Verlander in 2016
— G (@godisgreat122) February 13, 2020
“If there is proven intent to cheat: you test positive or it’s found that you were taking an illegal substance, PEDs, and trying to cheat the system, trying to go around it, I think it should be a ban from baseball”
Verlander's outspoken nature on cheating in the past makes for a real terrible look for him and the Astros, even more so when you factor in the team's disrespectful responses and apologies regarding one of the biggest scandals in MLB history.