Baseball owners, players agree on revised drug policy

Baseball owners and players agreed today on a revised drug program that grants amnesty to all players cited in the Mitchell Report as users of performance-enhancing substances.

“It is time for the game to move forward,” Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. “There is little to be gained at this point in debating dated misconduct and enduring numerous disciplinary proceedings.”

The amnesty covers Jose Guillen of the Kansas City Royals and Jay Gibbons, released last month by the Baltimore Orioles. The 15-day suspension for each player, imposed last December and stayed pending the new agreement, has been waived.

Selig reportedly had wanted to impose some punishment, even if limited to fines, against the active players named in the Mitchell Report. He backed down after the players’ union agreed to donate $200,000 to anti-drug programs and agreed that players, including those cited by Mitchell, would join in drug education efforts.

He pointedly reserved the right to fine club officials not represented by the union, saying “any fines imposed on management personnel for conduct described in the Mitchell Report” would be donated to two anti-drug organizations.

Selig told Congress in January that he would investigate the San Francisco Giants, with the Mitchell Report alleging that owner Peter Magowan and General Manager Brian Sabean failed to follow up when athletic trainer Stan Conte reported that Greg Anderson, the personal trainer for Barry Bonds, might be distributing steroids in the clubhouse.

“It is possible the BALCO scandal could have been averted if Brian Sabean and Peter Magowan acted in a responsible fashion,” Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) said during that Congressional hearing. “Instead they seemed more intent on protecting Barry Bonds.”

In the new agreement, owners and players continued to rebuff calls to outsource drug testing to an independent third party but did agree to appoint the current program administrator, Dr. Bryan Smith, to a three-year term in which he can be removed only for cause and after an arbitration hearing. Mitchell had criticized baseball’s characterization of Smith as independent because he could be removed at any time, by either players or owners, and without cause.

The agreement also increases the number of annual tests from 3,000 to 3,600 and the number of offseason tests from 60 per year to “up to 375” over a three-year period. In addition, the top 200 prospects for the June draft will be tested, with clubs notified of players testing positive. Players that test positive will be eligible to be drafted; players that refuse to take a test will not be eligible.

Bill.shaikin@latimes.com