MiLB drug program testing waters for MLB
Many of the report's findings, conclusions and suggestions refer to or encompass Minor League Baseball as well -- and that shouldn't be surprising.
In fact, Minor League Baseball was something of a "guinea pig" for the Commissioner's Office as far back as 2001, when the office implemented drug testing around the Minors. The program was used as a basis for the proposal made to the Players Association the next year when they began discussing such a program for the Majors, a program which was officially implemented in 2005.
Minor League Baseball as a governing body does not actually control the program, but supports it 100 percent, according to newly elected president Pat O'Conner, who has served as MiLB's vice president for more than a decade.
"The program is administered by the Commissioner's Office through the team trainers and the laboratories, so we're really not a party to that process aside from granting access and allowing the program to go on as far as the Commissioner has outlined," said O'Conner. "But we bought into it wholeheartedly because we believe in the process."
Under the program instituted in 2001, the use, sale or distribution of Schedule III steroids were prohibited, though at the time that prohibition did not cover certain supplements that had anabolic effects and were available over the counter (such as androstenedione and DHEA).
Major League Baseball has the ability to impose its rules unilaterally across the Minors because MiLB players, with the exception of those on 40-man rosters, are not members of the MLBPA, the baseball players' union.
Those players could be randomly tested up to four times a year as well as any additional times that "reasonable cause" might justify.
In the intervening years, those initial rules have been tweaked and strengthened with regard to such areas as the list of prohibited substances, the number of tests and testing procedures and, most notably, the penalties for failed tests.
In addition, only recently have the suspensions and penalties in the Minors differentiated between performance-enhancing substances, such as steroids, and "drugs of abuse," such as marijuana, cocaine, etc., though the specific substance itself is not specified when a player tests positive. Major League Baseball does not currently test players for drugs of abuse.
| Drug Testing and Prevention Programs | |
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Minor League |
Major League |
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Performance enhancing substances |
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•Anabolic Androgenic Steroids •Prohormone Nutritional Supplements |
•Anabolic Androgenic Steroids |
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Other substances tested for |
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•Drugs of Abuse (Cocaine, LSD, Marijuana, Opiates, PCP, Ecstacy, GHB, etc.) |
•Stimulants |
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Testing procedures |
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•Players subject to four unannounced tests per year •Belief of reasonable cause |
•Players tested five days prior to Spring Training •Players subject to one unannounced test on randomly selected date •Additional 600 unnanounced tests conducted of randomly selected players •Belief of reasonable cause |
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Discipline |
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•Failure to comply: 1st offense: 50-gm susp. 2nd offense: 100-gm susp. 3rd offense: permanent susp.
•Positive test for Drug of Abuse:
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•Failure to comply: 1st offense: 15 to 25-gm susp. 2nd offense: 25 to 50-gm susp. 3rd offense: 50 to 75-gm susp. 4th offense: One year susp.
•Positive test for Performance Enhancing Substance:
•Positive test for Stimulant: |
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Ironically, the initial revision lowered the original penalties, but since mid-2005, the Minors have had the same penalties in place as the Majors for use of performance-enhancing drugs: a 50-game suspension for first offense, a 100-game suspension for the second offense and a "three strikes, you're out" rule for third offense. (In the case of a drug of abuse, the first offense is dealt with via a treatment program before moving onto the 50-100-out track).
But many of the rules in the Minors only apply to non-40-man roster players, so that Minor Leaguers who are on their respective clubs' 40-man rosters (including several top picks who are automatically added to such lists as part of their signing agreements) are subject only to the Major League agreement, not the overall, more stringent, Minor League program.
Rules have been tweaked and tightened both on the Minor League and Major League sides of the coin, through observation, trial and error.
O'Conner does believe that what has worked -- and not worked -- on the Minor League side has probably had some impact on the Major League program.
"I don't think there is any question, as you do something you learn from it. I'd certainly think their experience with the Minor League program gave them some insight into formulating the Major League program," he said. "They put a lot of energy and resources into the Minor League program and I think any data, trends, empirical data or logistical lessons they learned they used."
However you look at it, the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program (MLDPTP) has worked to a large degree, with the number of positive tests and suspensions dropping increasingly since its inception.
In 2001, two rounds of random in-season testing resulted in a 9.1 percent positive result. In 2002, that number fell to 4.8 percent and in 2003 it dropped further to 4 percent. By 2005, only 1.78 percent of random player tests came out positive, and that number dropped even further to 0.36 percent in 2006 (2007 results are not yet available).
"I think it's had positive results," said O'Conner, who stressed that he was speaking strictly from his own observations rather than as an "official authority" on the subject or its numbers. "I think whenever you start changing a culture, or the perception of a culture, there are some trials and tribulations. But I think the policy has been tinkered with in a positive way to make it more applicable and fair while not straying from its goal."
There is no way to know for sure the reasons that the success rate has been so good and so consistent, but it's fair to say it's probably been a combination of a few factors, including the education of players on the dangers and health hazards of performance-enhancement drugs and seeing the fallout from other players' public penalization.
"There is no question that at the Minor League level, Major League Baseball has done a good job of trying to come in and educate players, not only on the short-term but the long-term effects," O'Conner said. "The program has been both educational and a deterrent."
That said, O'Conner knows that neither the Major nor Minor Leagues' job is done.
"There will always be that element that tries to get an edge, but there's more awareness and knowledge now," he said. "I can't say we're totally clean, I know we're not, but I don't think there is any question that the efforts are having a positive impact."
And what additional effect does he think the publicity and chatter that this report is generating will have on the Minor League side?
"I would hope that Minor Leaguers will look at this and realize that this stuff can be factually proven," he said. "Baseball wants to clean up its act and it starts with them. I hope the positive part of this report is that we want to take steps to clean it up and have it last."
The Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program is and continues to be a work in progress, as the rules, restrictions and penalties are regularly updated. In fact, changes for the 2008 season, such as additional new banned substances and the streamlining of timing set forth in the policy, were already in progress when the Mitchell Report was released and will be finalized and announced in coming weeks.
Lisa Winston is a reporter for MLB.com.