Either way, I’m glad to see that someone is playing hardball around here. Says the WashPost:
As Major League Baseball’s steroid scandal widened to include the sport’s most prolific active home run hitter, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday that he will introduce legislation imposing drug testing standards on professional athletes if baseball players and owners do not adopt a stringent crackdown on steroids by January.
In the wake of the disclosure that San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds used substances provided him by a trainer who has been indicted in a steroid distribution ring, McCain, in an interview, gave baseball until next month to adopt the more stringent drug testing requirements of minor league baseball or face federal action.
“Major league baseball players and owners should meet immediately to enact the standards that apply to the minor leagues, and if they don’t, I will have to introduce legislation that says professional sports will have minimum standards for testing,” McCain said after returning from a European trip late yesterday. “I’ll give them until January, and then I’ll introduce legislation.”
And this part says it all right here. Is there any excuse for this?
The minor league policy is far more comprehensive and aggressive than the major leagues’. The minor league drug policy bans more substances than the majors and calls for more frequent testing of players, three random tests per year, than the MLB policy. Any minor league player who tests positive for steroids is placed on an “administrative track” and is subject to discipline that automatically becomes more severe with each positive test. A player who tests positive for steroids five times is permanently suspended from minor league baseball.
The major league policy, by contrast, tests players only once a season, never in the offseason, and has weak disciplinary provisions. First-time offenders are placed into a treatment program without a fine or suspension. Second-time offenders face a 15-day suspension without pay, or a fine of up to $10,000. Five-time offenders are suspended one year or fined up to $100,000. The average player salary last season was around $2.5 million.
