MLB & MLBPA Agree on a new Joint Drug Agreement(JDA)

[Davis_Mike]

This a good step forward that needed to happen. It's still not as stiff a penalty as I would like.

I'll post more info as it is reported.

 

[steelparrot]

If a player can prove it was unintentional aka something buried in an over the counter supplement , you can have the penalties reduced by an arbitration panel.


Makes sense to me, unwittingly buying a banned substance at GNC is a far cry from going to a anti-aging doctor.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

The players are tired of hearing about it. They want to clean up the game to. This is good, but like you said I'd like the first two times to have stiffer consequences.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Here is a full write up on the new JDA.

MLB, MLBPA Announce Changes To Joint Drug Program

By Jeff Todd [March 28 at 3:41pm CST]
In a joint press release, Major League Baseball and the Major League Player's Association have announced a newly enhanced testing and suspension protocol in the Joint Drug Program (often abbreviated "JDA").

First come changes to the number of PED tests conducted. The new standards more than double the number of in-season random urine tests. Also, the number of random blood tests for hGH will increase to 400.

Second, the new agreement enhances the suspension penalties that can be applied. A first offense will now carry an 80-game suspension; a second offense comes with a full-season, 162-game suspension and loss of the full year's salary; and a third offense will result in a permanent ban. Notably, also, a player hit with a suspension cannot return to play in that years post-season.

Notably, the new terms make clear that an Arbitration Panel may choose to reduce the discipline in the event that the player can prove that the use was not intended to enhance performance. But any player who has a suspension upheld will be subject to six additional random, unannounced urine tests and three blood tests for every year in the remainder of his career.

Several months back, I took a look at the question of how best to craft deterrents to curb PED use, and argued that merely enhancing the current regime would not provide the best set of disincentives (for all parties involved). Of course, it is worth noting that today's agreement comes well in advance of its December 1, 2016 expiration. And, as ESPN's T.J. Quinn assesses things on Twitter, with these enhancements, MLB is "now miles ahead of NFL, and light years ahead of NBA, NHL, [and] FIFA" in its PED program.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

The players are tired of hearing about it. They want to clean up the game to. This is good, but like you said I'd like the first two times to have stiffer consequences.

They also don't like cheaters to take their share of the money.

 

[Davis_Mike]

If a player can prove it was unintentional aka something buried in an over the counter supplement , you can have the penalties reduced by an arbitration panel.


Makes sense to me, unwittingly buying a banned substance at GNC is a far cry from going to a anti-aging doctor.

I agree, but this can easily be abused. With the all the information available on the internet, it is very easy to find over the counter supplements that contain active banned PED ingredients. And then a player can feign ignorance as an excuse when they get popped.

 

[calsnowskier]

They need to hit the teams. If the teams are the ones who get the hit, they will make sure their players are in line.