Article:MLB Plays Three Vial Monte with Drug Testing

MLB and the MLB Players Association (the PA) just announced their solution to drugs in baseball. It's hogwash. It's whitewash, and here's why: MLB added draft prospects, but left minor leaguers to the MiLB testing system run by the commissioner's office. Bud Light's iron grip on the minors was supposed to be iron tight. Two positives and you're out of the game. A .9% positive testing rate. The crown jewel of baseball anti-doping. Except, that as Chris Hadorn and I proved in our articles "The Perfect Test" and "A Pound of Cure" between Christmas and New Years eve, the minor league testing system is a joke. Mitchell documents big name prospects using who were never tagged by the minor league system. We even found a player willing to tell us that the people charged with testing help players beat the test.

There are problems when you are running two testing systems. It leaves a lot of loopholes that make it easy to cheat.

MLB established an independent testing authority, but didn't tie their minor league system into it. They let HGH go unchecked without a blood test. They provide for team-sponsored trainers by 2010 for all players, but then give the trainers no teeth to monitor drug use and/or report to the new drug czar.

There is more, which I went into at-length in my blog [http://mlnsportszone.squarespace.com/editorsraves/2008/4/11/three-vial-monte-what-mlb-and-the-mlbpa-drug-testing-agreeme.html. Check it out] if you care. If you don't, then you're just the people MLB is hoping are out there in large numbers.