Major League Baseball Players Association Considering Making PED Penalties More Severe

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Baseball union head Michael Weiner says there’s active discussion about increasing the penalties for violating baseball’s drug testing program. Weiner says Monday after meeting with the Toronto Blue Jays players have expressed interest in making the sanctions for failed drug tests more severe. He also says there have been discussions with Major League Baseball about possible changes that could take place in 2014. Under current rules, a player gets a 50-game suspension for a first offense when testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Weiner says players have very little patience for seeing their peers try to cheat the system. Also, Weiner says he will be speaking with the players who were named in a report by The Miami New Times as having allegedly purchased performance-enhancing drugs from a defunct Florida anti-aging clinic.