At least seven Mets have been suspected of using marijuana this season, part of an alleged pattern of drug use that reaches from the team's minor league system right up to the major league roster, sources close to the team have told Newsday.
Manager Bobby Valentine acknowleged he worried about the drug problem on his team as early as spring training and said he spoke to general manager Steve Phillips about his concerns, although Phillips yesterday said he didn't recall such a conversation.
"I've seen signals, but nothing definitive," Valentine said yesterday.
A top team official, however, said the manager confronted rookie reliever Grant Roberts over his suspected drug use this season.
Valentine said he met with his team to discuss the "foolishness" of drug use when rookie pitcher Mark Corey was hospitalized with seizure-like symptoms June 26 after smoking marijuana with teammate Tony Tarasco mere blocks from Shea Stadium.
Tarasco, Corey and Roberts are three of at least seven major league Mets who have been suspected of using marijuana this season. Most of the players involved came up through the Mets' farm system. In addition to Corey, a number of those suspected are no longer with the team.
Phillips disputed there is a problem yesterday. "I don't think we have rampant drug use on our major league team," he said.
Interviews with a high-ranking team official, a former prospect and two people close to players in the organization in the aftermath of the Corey-Tarasco incident raised new allegations.
According to one friend of some Mets players, marijuana has allegedy been mailed into Shea Stadium inside a jar of peanut butter and at least one Met regularly smokes marijuana in the players' parking lot. The same source also said that a number of Mets players have been known to share a marijuana-filled limousine ride rather than taking the team bus from one city to another while on the road.
A former prospect and two friends of current Mets confirmed that the team's minor leaguers have been warned in advance of supposedly random drug tests and have learned how to avoid drug detection.
One of the friends said that Mets minor leaguers have been known to bury marijuana and drug paraphernalia near hotels on the road in order to access it on the next trip to town.
A team official and a friend of the players said in addition to marijuana Ecstasy was another drug of choice among Mets minor leaguers.
Valentine recounted how he talked to his team after Newsday reported the Corey-Tarasco drug use in June.
"After the one incident we had, I addressed the team about this stuff specifically, about how foolish it was, how it was illegal and how embarrassing it could be for it to continue," Valentine said.
In order to evade the bomb-sniffing dogs that occasionally patrol Shea Stadium, a source who refused to be named said one player instructed an accomplice to pack the marijuana in partly-filled peanut-butter jars.
"They leave about a half inch to an inch of peanut butter on the outside wall and then they just throw the bag inside the peanut butter," said the source, who also has knowledge that two of the young Mets may have provided drugs to teammates and players on other teams during spring training.
Told of the drug allegations, catcher Mike Piazza said, "It's kind of disturbing if that's the case. I'm not against having fun. For me, it's having a few beers, if you're of age. You have to blow off steam somehow. But you'd think guys at this level would be completely focused on their careers."
First baseman Mo Vaughn said yesterday: "I personally was never into drugs. It's hard enough to play this game if your brain is normal. I don't know if it's a problem on this team. I hope to God it's not. If there's something going on, we need to correct it."
None of the Mets contacted made any connection between the team's miserable 2002 season and drug use. However, medical experts say marijuana use can impair coordination.
While major-league players are not subject to random drug testing, as stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement, minor leaguers do undergo drug tests, although the results are not released to the public. One source said star prospects are sometimes warned in advance about coming drug tests or let off the hook after failing tests.
Phillips said that while team officials know when tests will be administered for coordination purposes, he doubted whether any club official has tipped off players. The general manager estimated that no more than three to five Mets minor leaguers test positive for drugs each year. Two former Mets prospects who have been sent home after failing drug tests are outfielder Rob Stratton and pitcher Erik Hiljus, sources said. Bill Pulsipher also was caught smoking dope by club officials.
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