MLB and MLBPA reach agreement on new drug policy

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AP[/url]"]NEW YORK -- Baseball players and owners agreed Friday to amend their drug agreement, a decision that allows for more frequent testing and eliminates 15-day suspensions assessed in December against Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons.

 

The deal, reached after months of negotiations, strengthens the authority the independent administrator has over the drug program, giving him an initial three-year term and specifying he can be removed only if an arbitrator finds cause.

 

But baseball did not heed advice from the World Anti-Doping Agency and turn drug testing over to an outside agency.

 

In addition, the decision over whether a player can be subjected to reasonable cause testing will remain with management and the union, with any disagreement decided by the sport's regular arbitrator. Also, a joint management-union body called the Treatment Board will supervise the part of the program relating to drugs of abuse such as cocaine.

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As part of the agreement, major leaguers -- including those named in December's Mitchell Report -- will join Major League Baseball's efforts to educate youth about performance-enhancing drugs. The players' association will contribute $200,000 to an anti-drug organization.

 

In exchange for those two provisions, baseball commissioner Bud Selig agreed not to discipline players implicated by Mitchell during his 1 1/2-year investigation.

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Guillen and Gibbons were suspended in December following media reports linking them to performance-enhancing drugs. Those penalties were put on hold just before opening day as negotiators neared an agreement.

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The sides agreed that in future investigations, allegations against players won't be made public unless discipline is imposed, and that a player will be given the allegations and evidence against him before any investigatory interview.

 

The new joint drug agreement, which must be ratified by both sides, runs until Dec. 11, 2011, when baseball's labor contract expires.