June 27th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka When the Dodgers placed outfielder Andrew Toles on the Restricted List for failing to report for Spring Training in 2019 for “personal matters,” and again after he finally showed up for Extended Spring Training but abruptly left for “a personal matter,” you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to read between the lines. This had “substance abuse” written all over it.
The good news is that there were no subsequent news reports of him falling into the rabbit hole that so many others had fallen into – repeated arrests, overdoses, and (Lord forbid) death.
The bad news is that the good news came to a screeching halt on Friday, when it was reported that the (now) 28-year-old Decatur, GA native, whom the Dodgers had acquired as a free agent on September 23, 2015, after the Tampa Bay Rays had released him for “disciplinary reasons,” had been arrested on June 22 by Monroe County sheriffs deputies for misdemeanor trespassing when he refused to leave an area behind a Federal Express building at Key West International Airport in Florida.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department arrest report, Toles was given “…several chances to leave the area without being arrested but he wouldn’t walk away.”
Within minutes of Toles’ arrest hitting social media, hundreds of Dodger fans expressed their sorrow for Toles, including several of his former teammates and colleagues.
“Toles is such a great guy. Always had funny conversations and grabbing food in Westgate! Praying for you man,” tweeted Dodgers right-hander Shea Spitzbarth, who played with Toles in the Dodgers minor league system.
“I know there’s a lot of Dodger fans that are worried. This definitely hurts and know that people that can help Tolesy have been made aware and will do their best to help,” tweeted former Dodger and current SportsNet LA analyst Jerry Hairston Jr.
Also tweeted out were numerous pleas for the Dodgers, the MLB Players Association, and the Baseball Assistance Team to reach out to their former colleague to give him the help he so desperately needs.
Sure enough, it was reported early Saturday morning that someone had posted the $500 bond for Toles’ release from the Stock Island Detention Center in Key West, FL. It was also reported that the MLBPA and other baseball-related entities are fully aware of Toles’ situation and are taking immediate action accordingly – and privately.
You are loved and very much in our prays, Tolsey.
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Posted in 
@Dodgers if you are on the wrong path I think it is the opposite if your team knows that you are not… https://t.co/PZ8Qv3CT5I
@Dodgers now the team only say wow before the baseball society this is a very low action as you are g… https://t.co/3Foabmkdcf
It appears that Toles is now (finally) going to get the help that he needs. But his issues began before he became a Dodger. He was released by Tampa Bay in 2015 for “disciplinary reasons.”
If you are going to throw the Dodgers under the bus, you need to throw the Rays under there too.
If I remember correctly, Toles even had problems in college where he was kicked off the team. I don’t know about the Rays, but the Dodgers made repeated attempts to help the young man.
@Dodgers Very sad story. I hope the Dodgers organization and MLB can somehow get involved and help hi… https://t.co/IHzuaqKRoi
Is it wrong for me to still hope for a comeback? Toles has the potential to be a top-of-the-order, impact player for the Dodgers. That’s me being selfish…
With love and support, I’m certain he’ll get his life in order. The rest can happen if and when he feels ready to take that on again.
Quash those demons, Andrew.
Not wrong at all. What a remarkable story that would be!
Happy to see he will be getting the help he needs! Let’s hope he takes it and can pull away from his demons that he is fighting….good luck and 🙏🙏🙏that you make it through this.
This is shocking news and I wish Tolesy the best.
Forget baseball, just hope he can get help and find some happiness.
Spot on!
From what I understand and although we will probably never hear about it, Tolsey is supposedly getting help from someone on the MLB side of things.
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