© Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn
At one point in his 11-year career, Dee Strange-Gordon was one of the best players the MLB had to offer. But on a recent podcast appearance, Strange-Gordon made some damning claims against the league.
In the 2025 season, Strange-Gordon won the National League batting title with a .333 average. In the same year, Bryce Harper claimed the NL MVP after hitting .330 with 42 home runs and 99 RBIs.
On a recent episode of the “Raw Room” podcast, Strange-Gordon claimed that someone from the league called him prior to the final game of the season and told him to throw the batting title race so that Harper could win it. Strange-Gordon says he refused to do so, and as a result, he was framed for a PED suspension the following season.
“So look, I got suspended in ’16 for steroids. Look at me, King. Does it look like I took steroids before?” Strange-Gordon asked host King Dunlap, referring to his slender frame.
“Let me tell y’all. I ain’t gonna say no name or nothing, but let me just put it like this,” he continued. “Back in 2015, they told my little black a–, ‘don’t win that batting championship.’ And I said ‘y’all got me f—ed up.’ They said ‘don’t do it.’
“It was a guy, I ain’t gonna say his name, he would’ve won the triple crown if I let him win the batting title. The last day of the season I beat him for the batting title. I went 3-for-4 with a home run … he won MVP that year.”
Bryce Harper Didn’t Lay Claim To Batting Title After Dee Strange-Gordon Suspension
Now, Harper did win the MVP that year and finished second in the batting title race. But he finished 31 RBIs behind NL leader Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies. So he would not have won the Triple Crown.
Even so, it’s an eye-opening allegation for Strange-Gordon, who was then suspended for 80 games early in the 2016 season for a positive PED test.
To his credit, Harper didn’t downplay Strange-Gordon winning the batting title after news of his suspension became public.
“I lost it completely. I was hitting like .345 with three weeks left or so. I completely lost it. It was nothing to do with that,” he said. “You’ve still got to hit the baseball. You’ve still got to perform. And he did that. I completely lost the batting title last year, so that’s all behind us.”