Players Propose Steroid Testing

The Major League Baseball Players Assn. made a major policy shift Wednesday in calling for its members to be tested for steroids, pleasing owners and continuing the positive tone of intensifying collective bargaining talks.

The union addressed a key issue in ending its long-standing opposition to mandatory drug testing after former stars Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco recently said steroid use is rampant in the major leagues, submitting a proposal that would subject players to one or more unannounced tests in 2003 to determine the extent of steroid use. If the survey showed use of fewer than 5%, a second round of tests would be conducted in 2004 to verify the results.

If more than 5% of the tests were positive in either survey, players would be randomly tested for two years. The union did not indicate whether its proposal includes a penalty component for players who test positive for steroids, but Rob Manfred, baseball’s lead labor lawyer, said it does, though he declined to elaborate on specifics.

“This is the right thing to do,” said catcher Paul Lo Duca, the Dodger player representative. “The owners think that we don’t want to have [testing], but there wasn’t any [opposition] from any of the [player reps] on the conference call that we had to approve it.

“Some of the players thought it should have been even stricter. There are a lot of players who do want to clean up the game.”

Owners have proposed a more comprehensive testing program. The sides did not discuss the core issues of revenue sharing and a payroll tax in talks that are scheduled to continue today, and the union might set a strike date Monday when its executive board meets in Chicago. If a date is set then, it is expected that it would be Sept. 1 or Sept. 16.

But owners were encouraged by the union’s new stance on steroid testing, saying its proposal marked another positive step in talks characterized by more civility than previous contract negotiations.

“Given this is a priority issue for us, we were pleased because it was a forthcoming proposal,” Manfred said. “The proposal, in terms of the history of the parties’ relations on this topic, and the principles the union has always adhered to in this area is ... this is a very significant proposal. It is the kind of proposal that will put us on the path toward an agreement [on that issue].”

Under the owners’ proposal, players would be tested three times a year for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and once a year for illegal drugs such as cocaine.

The proposal also contains a component to address over-the-counter supplements such as ephedrine.

The union wants teams to show “reasonable cause” to test players, and in a statement suggested that the program end after two years if the level of use has “meaningfully abated.”

Progress was made in the areas of funding of deferred player compensation, and the sides exchanged proposals on minimum salary, the players’ benefit plan and debt regulation, but steroid testing was the big item on the table.

“Obviously, it was a serious issue, which is why I spent so much time making sure membership was properly informed,” union chief Don Fehr said. “We wanted to come up with what the players felt was the best way to approach it, and we believe we accomplished that.”

Baseball has lagged behind the NFL and NBA in efforts to crack down on steroid use, but the revelations by Caminiti and Canseco apparently spurred the union to soften its opposition to testing.

Caminiti told Sports Illustrated he used steroids during 1996, when he was selected the National League most valuable player for the San Diego Padres, adding, “At least half the guys are using steroids.” In a radio interview, Canseco estimated that 85% of major leaguers use steroids, and said he planned to write a book about drug use in the majors.

“The fact that we’re going to have testing now is a good thing, but the way they went about what they did was wrong,” Dodger second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said of the former stars. “Did it benefit the game? Well, yes and no. We’re going to have testing now like the other leagues do, but the way everything came out was wrong.”

The NFL began with an annual steroid test during training camp in 1987. Steroids are a prohibited substance in the NBA, and the NHL permits the testing of players only if there is cause.

“We need to do this to ease people’s minds, both in the game and outside the game,” Grudzielanek said. “A lot of players feel it’s unfair, and not right, for someone to be using something illegal to enhance their abilities, and do something you’re not normally capable of doing. Hopefully, this will help us get an agreement done.”