Cubs' Ross says past users created current PED suspicions

David Ross played up the recent Jake Arrieta-Stephen A. Smith war of words to perfection when he asked why nobody accuses him of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

That was all fun and games, though. On Friday, the Chicago Cubs catcher wasn't laughing when he made much more pointed comments suggesting past drug users have made it hard for a late bloomer like his Cy Young-winning battery mate to become a star without arousing suspicion.

"The bad part is past people's mistakes in our game," Ross told 670 The Score's "Mully and Hanley Show." "We've done this to (ourselves). The players who have cheated and tried to cheat and continue to cheat create this. It's nobody’s fault but our own as the Major League Baseball organization. And we’ve got to try to continue to clean it up."

Ross is the latest player to chime in on the PED discussion after Dee Gordon's shocking suspension returned the issue to the forefront. The 39-year-old didn't overtly take issue with the current punishments, but instead questioned whether there's enough of a deterrent to prevent players from using PEDs in the first place.

"The union is doing a phenomenal job of trying to put as much in place to deter these guys from cheating, but obviously it's not enough," he continued. "There's a lot of money out there. Guys want to take the risk."

Related: 5 takeaways from the Dee Gordon suspension

As for Arrieta, Ross simply pointed to his teammate's strict workout and diet regimens as evidence of his hard work paying off.

"He goes out to eat to healthy food places, orders healthy dinners," Ross said. "In spring training he's getting food delivered to his house that is prepared with ... the good stuff.

"He works his tail off. It's a lifestyle for him. It's not even 'this is what he’s doing for his craft.' It's a lifestyle."