Seattle Mariners, baseball’s most juiced team?

First, it was the announcement that former right-fielder Jose Guillen had bought $20,000 worth of human growth steroids from 2003-05 on the same day that he signed a three-year contract with the Kansas City Royals. Then former first baseman David Segui has admitted to buying steroids from former Mets clubhouse attendant after being traded to New York in 1994.

While both instances occurred before either player was on a Mariners roster, it still needs to wonder whether they were using while playing in Seattle. In his first four years prior to joining the Mets, Segui was a career .263 hitter in major-league 387 games. He was hitting .329 when he was traded by the Mets to Montreal one year later, and was a .300 hitter for the rest of his career, reaching that mark along with 28 home runs and 123 RBIs in 233 games for the Mariners from 1998-99. As for Guillen, 2003-05 coincided with his “break through” years, finally delivering on seven years of promise by averaging 27 home runs and 89 RBIs during that span along with a .302 batting average. If Guillen did, indeed, stop using HGH after it was banned in 2005, that may explain the myriad of health problems that decimated his 2006 season with the Nationals.

Still, was Guillen using in the Mariners’ clubhouse in his comeback season last year?

Let’s not forget Jose Canseco’s accusations regarding Bret Boone, who morphed into a MVP candidate as he nearly doubled his home run totals (from 19 to 37) in his first season with the M’s.

As well as the list of Mariners minor leaguers suspended due to substance abuse violations- from Wellington Dotel to Jamal Strong and even Ryan Franklin- who were caught violating the league’s substance abuse policy and received suspensions.

Is the atmosphere in the Mariners’ clubhouse relatively accepting of substance abuse? If it is, it’s proof positive that so-called “performance enhancers” doesn’t translate into on-field success.