Jays' Zaun denies buying performance-enhancing drugs

'I think a lot of people misunderstood my silence,' says catcher

Last Updated: Friday, February 15, 2008 | 6:16 PM ET

CBC Sports

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun reported for spring training in Dunedin, Fla., on Friday and broke his silence.

He didn't speak about the team's recent acquisition of veteran backstop Rod Barajas, with whom he will share playing time this season, but about his inclusion in the Mitchell Report.

Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun was noted in the Mitchell Report, which contained allegations against Zaun made by Kirk Radomski.
(Chris O'Meara/Canadian Press)

Zaun denied that he ever bought performance-enhancing drugs, offering an explanation for a cheque used as evidence against him.

"I think a lot of people misunderstood my silence," Zaun told reporters at the Bobby Mattick Training Center.

"All I was trying to do was do the right thing for me and my family by gathering all of the information and getting it as organized as possible, so that's when I did decide to do this, and the time was right for me, that I had all of the information that was possibly available to me so I could give it to you."

The Mitchell Report contained allegations against Zaun made by Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse attendant who co-operated with the investigation as part of a plea deal with the U.S. government, and Luis Perez, a former bullpen catcher with the Montreal Expos.

According to the report, Radomski said he believed Zaun was referred to him by pitcher Jason Grimsley and received a cheque from the catcher for $500 US worth of Deca-Durabolin and Winstrol, both anabolic steroids, back when he was with the Royals in 2001.

A scanned image of the cheque was included in the report and Zaun explained that by saying he probably owed Grimsley $500 — perhaps for losing a bet on a basketball game, but he can't recall exactly — and wrote him a blank cheque to cover the amount.

Zaun believes Grimsley, his Kansas City teammate at the time, passed the cheque on to Radomski to buy steroids. He points to what he says appears to be two different styles of writing on the cheque to support his claim.

"You're talking about one cheque of thousands that I've written over the last seven years," Zaun said. "I'm supposed to recall why and when and to whom and where? That was nearly impossible for me to figure out, but when I went through the document and I looked at it, I could tell right away that the only parts of the cheque that were mine were my signature and possibly the $500 in the box.

"I knew right away there was something wrong. I wanted to at least offer up an explanation for how my name ends up in that report. Maybe people come away from this and think there's a possibility that this could've happened, because that's the way I remember it happening."

Zaun said he might have left the "to" section on the cheque blank out of frustration over losing the bet, adding that writing cheques without making them out to someone specifically is something he's done "dozens of times."

Wants to move on

Perez, meanwhile, told MLB investigators back in 2003 that Zaun was one of eight players he'd sold steroids to, a claim repeated in the Mitchell Report. Perez was investigated after he was arrested for possession of marijuana in September 2002.

Zaun said he didn't know Perez and that he co-operated with MLB investigators who came to talk to him at the time. This time, Zaun didn't speak with Mitchell investigators, saying they never told him what the accusations were against him.

Zaun added he doesn't plan on asking Grimsley to address the subject.

"I'm not upset with him. I'm not upset with anybody," he said. "I just want to say it one time. I didn't buy drugs from Luis Perez. I didn't buy drugs from Radomski, not directly or through Jason Grimsley. I offered up the best explanation I could for the cheque and that's it.

"Now, all I want to do is just get on with the business of playing baseball."