Special reporting by Paul Rubin.
In late February 2015, Gabe Kapler, then the Dodgers’ director of player development, called one of his lieutenants, assistant director of player development Nick Francona. He shared some alarming news. Kapler told Francona that “Something had gone on” at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Glendale, Ariz., the team hotel just a few miles from the Dodgers’ spring training complex.
As Francona remembers the conversation, Kapler’s account was vague but troubling: “He didn’t have a ton of information at that point. It sounded like there was some type of disturbance at the hotel involving a few players who had been drinking with some girls in their room and playing loud music.