Rafael Palmeiro might have been fortunate to be suspended only 10 days Monday for his positive test for a banned performance-enhancing substance. If Commissioner Bud Selig had already gotten his way, a first offense would have brought a 50-game suspension.
Selig continues to await a reply from the Major League Baseball Players Association on a proposal he sent them on April 25 calling for a 50/100/lifetime schedule of suspensions for players found to be using steroids or other banned substances.
According to a highly placed Major League Baseball source, Selig is weighing unilateral action on the proposal. He could invoke his “best interests of baseball” powers but prefers to reach an agreement with the union, which would be expected to challenge him in court if he acted on his own.
MLB had no testing program for steroids until one was built into the labor agreement reached in August 2002. That one was widely criticized as being too weak and has twice been stiffened, with the latest changes going into effect in March.
Union Executive Director Donald Fehr has been discussing Selig’s latest proposal with his membership. He initially said he would prefer not to make more changes in the agreement until after 2006, when the current labor deal expires.
Selig declined comment on the issue Monday when reached at his Milwaukee office. But he discussed increased testing at length in a wide-ranging interview before the All-Star Game on July 12 in Detroit.
“Is the current program working?” Selig asked, rhetorically. “It is, but I believe there is a deeper issue. I saw it in the eyes of some of those players [before Congress] on March 17. I’m always talking to players, team doctors, trainers, so I know all sides of this. I believe there’s an integrity issue here. I believe the integrity issue transcends whether the [current] program is working.
“We need to create an understanding everywhere that when we say we need to rid the game of steroids that we mean it. The perception that we don’t mean it is there. It affects everything we do in baseball, starting with the commissioner. . . . We have nothing to hide.”
Congress has threatened to take action, possibly invoking uniform testing rules for all professional sports, if MLB does not make its policy tougher.
“If the federal government takes action, I’d accept it,” Selig said. “Do I prefer MLB and the players association to regulate our industry? Absolutely.”
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Baseball’s penalties
A look at Major League Baseball’s five-step steroids policy for positive tests, and Commissioner Bud Selig’s proposal for tougher penalties:
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(INFRACTION) 1ST TIME 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH
Old policy Counseling 15 days 25 days 50 days 1 year
Current policy 10 days 30 days 60 days 1 year variable*
Selig proposal 50 games 100 games Lifetime
*–commissioner’s discretion on penalty
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