Friday: MLB and MLBPA have announced the new agreement, effective immediately. First and second time offenders will be suspended 80 and 162 games, respectively. The third offense gets a lifetime ban. There is a shorter suspension for inadvertent use, which much be proved through arbitration. Players who are suspended are also ineligible for the postseason. I don’t like that last part, the player’s punishment should not vary by the quality of his team. The testing programs have been ramped up as well.
Wednesday: Via the AP: MLB and the players’ union are working on a new drug agreement that would increase penalties for performance-enhancing drugs. They hope to have the deal in place by Sunday, before the season starts. “It will be a significant deterrent because players will know they’re not going to just easily walk back into a lineup,” said Travis Tygart, CEO if the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “It probably is the best policy in professional sports.”
Under the new plan, first and second time offenses would result in 100 and 162-game suspensions, respectively. Ken Rosenthal says the first ban would be 80 games, so there’s some conflicting information right now. There would also be a new 25-game suspension for inadvertent use. I’m interested to see exactly how that will work. The MLBPA has always been pro-PED testing and this wouldn’t be the first time they open up the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Joint Drug Agreement mid-term to make changes. I’m glad they’re working on a way to stiffen penalties while somewhat protecting the players who were not using intentionally. Mistakes do happen.
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