Tests for Steroids Begin

The Dodgers were tested for steroids Tuesday for the first time this spring before a game against the Florida Marlins.

Urine samples from 10 to 12 players on the 40-man roster were taken shortly after 8 a.m. by a Major League Baseball official. Among those tested were pitcher Brad Penny, catcher David Ross and infielder Olmedo Saenz.

Assistant General Manager Kim Ng was told Monday the Dodgers would be tested. Ross, the Dodger player representative, said the team did not know that testing would occur until team doctor Michael Mellman addressed the players Tuesday morning.

The testing official observed the players urinating into a cup, then the players signed a form indicating that the test was taken with their consent and according to the procedures agreed upon by the players’ union and Major League Baseball in January.

Players who test positive the first time will be suspended for 10 days. Second-time offenders will be suspended for 30 days, third-time offenders for 60 days and four-time offenders for one year. All suspensions will be without pay.

Every player is expected to be tested this season.

“I think they are trying to take care of the players’ health, not trying to end somebody’s career,” Dodger infielder Jose Valentin said. “They are trying to keep everybody clean. Even kids know about steroids. It’s not a good thing.”

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The Dodgers had better hope Scott Erickson, Kazuhisa Ishii and Edwin Jackson are prepared to pitch when the season opens. General Manager Paul DePodesta said that Penny and Odalis Perez might not be ready in early April because of the deliberate pace of their recovery from injuries.

Jayson Werth and Milton Bradley were among several players who stopped to watch Penny throw a bullpen session on a slick mound in a light rain Tuesday. Penny increased his velocity, but there is no timetable for when he might pitch in a spring training game.

Perez, who developed biceps tendinitis lifting weights, is at least a week from appearing in a game.

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Dodger pitchers had 12 strikeouts in a 3-0 loss to the Marlins at Holman Stadium. Derek Lowe struck out three and gave up three hits in four scoreless innings, and he has not given up a run in seven innings over two starts.

In two innings, Ishii surrendered three unearned runs without giving up a hit, struck out four, walked two and threw two nasty split-fingered pitches for strikes.

Left-hander Wilson Alvarez struck out the side in his first spring inning and Yhency Brazoban struck out two in the ninth.

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A Dodger official said that no Dodger players were involved in a fraudulent marriage scheme that resulted in at least 10 minor league players being banned from receiving visas, effectively ending their careers in the United States.

Luchy Guerra, the Dodger official responsible for visas, said none of the team’s players were part of the scheme, which involved players being paid up to $7,000 to marry women they had not met. The wives would then qualify for a visa, and the couples would divorce soon after arriving in the U.S.