Drug use claims by ex-Mariner disputed

Some prominent Mariners, past and present, are disputing a former teammate's claims there was rampant use of steroids and amphetamines among the team's players in the late 1990s.

Current left fielder Raul Ibanez and longtime Mariners pitcher Jamie Moyer said in interviews Saturday with The Seattle Times that they were disappointed in former outfielder Shane Monahan's allegations about the 1998 and 1999 Mariners teams. Monahan was quoted in an ESPN.com report as saying he used anabolic steroids in both those years and got them from "guys" who hung around the team's clubhouse unimpeded.

The ESPN.com story, which was based almost entirely on Monahan's allegations, states that friends of the Seattle players were dealing performance-enhancing drugs in the clubhouse -- sometimes bartering them for baseball gear -- and that the widespread usage was tolerated by then-manager Lou Piniella. That's a description both Ibanez and Moyer, a Magnolia resident now pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, disagree with.

"It's amazing to me that a guy like Shane -- a guy who was up and down at best and had a very limited cup of coffee with us -- would be able to know what was going on," Ibanez said of Monahan, who played 78 games over two seasons with the Mariners. "I was up and down like he was. I was in that same boat that he was in, and everyone makes their choice."

Ibanez said he spends 3-½ hours, five days per week conditioning his body in drug-free workouts. He acknowledged that amphetamines, or "greenies," were "part of the game and had been for a long time" when he came up through the minors in the 1990s, but he said he resisted taking them.

"In 10 years, I've never seen a person take a steroid," he said. "I've never had anyone come to me in a major-league clubhouse and offer me any."

Moyer echoed those statements and disputed Monahan's contention of rampant clubhouse drug use.

"I choose not to get involved with all of that stuff," Moyer said. "We're all grown men of many different ages. If he's throwing people under the bus, that's his choice, but it disappoints me."

Moyer added, "We're all adults with this and we make our choices. It's kind of surprising he would choose to do this to an entire team because of something he chose to do to himself. I can tell you that I was there for 10 years and I never saw anyone take steroids.

"This will be my 20th year in the major leagues, and I don't even know what a steroid looks like," he added. "If I have to start relying on those things, after so many years in the game, then it's time to pack it in. That's the way I look at things."

Monahan did not return messages left for him on his cellphone. His mother, Linda, reached at her home outside Atlanta, said her son had some reservations about the way the ESPN.com story was presented.

"It makes it look like he threw everyone under the bus," she said. "That was never his intention in doing this."

In the story, Monahan said he was coming forward to help marginal players like himself who felt forced into drug use to build a career. He says baseball is not adequately combating use of performance-enhancing drugs and that the Mitchell Report -- the 409-page document released Dec. 13 in which he was not named -- needed to investigate amphetamines as well.

When Major League Baseball introduced enhanced steroid screening in 2005, the Mariners led all organizations with 11 positive drug tests. There have also been unsubstantiated rumors for years that steroids were used by players on some of the more prominent Mariners playoff teams.

The Mitchell Report did identify a handful of players who played in Seattle when Monahan did, including Ryan Franklin, Glenallen Hill, David Segui and Todd Williams. While Monahan's career was limited to those 1998 and 1999 teams -- which didn't go to the playoffs -- many of the same players from those squads had featured roles on postseason contenders in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2001.

Brian Goldberg, the agent for onetime Mariners superstar Ken Griffey Jr., said he spoke to the slugger about Monahan's allegations and Griffey declined to comment to the Times.

"Junior already reacted to the Mitchell Report when it came out, and Kenny's just never been a part of that culture anyway," Goldberg said.

Other prominent ex-Mariners, like Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Dan Wilson, could not be reached for comment.

Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said the team was unaware that anything Monahan alleged took place on the team.

"We're surprised and disappointed," Armstrong said of Monahan's comments. "As I've said all along, we fully support the commissioner's initiatives. There is now testing for amphetamines, and access to the clubhouse has been tightened a great deal since those days."

Piniella did not return a telephone call Saturday.

For all of the denials Saturday, at least part of the message Monahan said he wanted to deliver did hit home. Ibanez agrees that it's crucial to point out to young players how steroids ultimately didn't help Monahan's career.

Not only did Monahan admit he took steroids, Ibanez said, but "it clearly didn't work." He added, "These days, the training methods are so much better, so much more sophisticated, that you don't need to take drugs.

"You find the best trainers available, the best training methods available, and you go out there and bust your ass."

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com; Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com