Scottsdale, AZ (My Sportsbook) - Major League Baseball and its Players' Association announced an agreement on Thursday for tougher steroid testing standards, one which will provide year-round testing and stiffer penalties for first-time offenders.
Under the new agreement, every player will undergo at least one unannounced test on a randomly selected date during the playing season. There is no specific limit on the number of tests to which any player may randomly be subjected, and it includes random testing during the off-season, even though several players live outside the United States.
The new agreement tweaks the old one, which was reached under the collective bargaining agreement in 2002 by the union and management. The new policy, following ratification, will be effective for the 2005 season and will extend to 2008.
A first-time offender will be suspended for 10 days. Second-time offenders will be suspended for 30 days. Third-time offenders will be suspended for 60 days. Fourth-time offenders will be suspended for one year and all suspensions will be without pay.
Under the old policy, players were tested only once in-season. A first positive test for steroid use resulted in treatment. A second offense carried a 15- day suspension or fine of up to $10,000. A third offense was a 25-day suspension or up to a $25,000 fine and a fourth a 50-day suspension or a fine of up to $50,000. A fifth positive test was either a one-year suspension or a fine of up to $100,000.
No player was suspended for using steroids in 2004.
The agreement will also widen the list of banned substances in Major League Baseball and will include not only steroids, but steroid precursors and designer steroids such as THG, as well as masking agents and diuretics.
"I am gratified that we were able to work with the Players' Association to address an issue which threatened the confidence of our fans in the game," commissioner Bud Selig said. "This policy is consistent with my stated goal of zero tolerance. I appreciate the Players' Association's willingness to revisit this important issue during the term of the Basic Agreement even though it was under no legal obligation to do so. I would also like to thank President Bush for his leadership in focusing the attention of America on the problem of performance enhancing substances."
Even after the new agreement, the rules are more stringent at the minor league level. Under its policy, which is not subject to collective bargaining, there is a year-round testing program and first-time offenders are hit with a 15-day suspension without pay. Players who test positive a second time receive a 30- day suspension, and a third offense means a full season suspension without pay.
"Players care deeply about how fans of the game perceive it," union head Donald Fehr said. "It was in that spirit that they agreed not to await expiration of a working Joint Drug Agreement before reviewing its impact on combatting any steroid use within the sport. This agreement, once finalized and ratified, will be testament to just how deeply the players are committed to that effort."
In the NFL's drug testing policy, a first-time offender is hit with a four- game suspension, which is a quarter of the regular season. The NBA hits first- time offenders with a five-game suspension.
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle in early December, Giants slugger Barry Bonds admitted to using a clear substance and cream provided to him by his trainer, but said he didn't know they were steroids. The newspaper reported Bonds, a seven-time National League MVP, testified before a federal grand jury in December 2003 and that earlier that year he used both clear and cream substances provided by his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson. According to the testimony obtained by the Chronicle, Bonds said he was told the substances were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis. The substances are similar to steroids described from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the center of a scandal.
Another report by the Chronicle said New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi claimed in his grand jury testimony that he took a human growth hormone in 2003 and also used steroids for at least three seasons.
Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield also testified before a federal grand jury on the steroids issue.
The announcement came at the end of the owners' meetings in Scottsdale. Also Thursday, Major League Baseball and minor league baseball reached an accord on a new 10-year Professional Baseball Agreement, extending through the 2014 season.
Also at the meetings on Thursday, owners ratified the sale of the Milwaukee Brewers from the Selig family to a group of investors headed by Los Angeles businessman Mark Attanasio.
