MLB Commissioner Bud Selig Thursday announced team owners unanimously ratified the new five-year CBA that was jointly agreed to on Nov. 22 (MLB). MLB.com's Barry Bloom noted the "major change in the ever-evolving Joint Drug Agreement" is mandatory blood testing for HGH, which will begin during Spring Training this season (MLB.com, 12/15). The agreement also "institutes restraints on signing bonuses for amateur draft picks and international players coming to the big leagues" (AP, 12/15). Meanwhile, details have also been revealed about the possibility of expanded use of instant replay, and SportsNet N.Y.'s Sal Licata said, "I want less replay." Licata: "Please, you're killing the sport. You’re killing it. Less replay, we don't need more for fair or foul balls. The sport will be killed by instant replay” ("The WheelHouse," SportsNet N.Y., 12/14). YES Network’s Jack Curry said, “I just want them to get the call right, and I think they can do it without destroying the rhythm of the game. I think the umpires will be told this isn't a Sunday siesta. If you have to go in and check the video, run off the field, watch the replays as quickly as you can and get back out on the field. This should be able to happen in a couple of minutes and not destroy the flow of the game” ("Yankees Baseball Daily," YES Network, 12/14). Meanwhile, another aspect of the CBA is that players are banned from getting tattoos of corporate logos. SportsNet N.Y.'s Marc Malusis said, "So guys that want to go out there and get a big Pepsi sign tattooed on their neck, that's a big no-go with the new CBA” (“The WheelHouse,” SportsNet N.Y., 12/14). But MLB Network's Mitch Williams said, "I would have Gatorade tattooed on my forehead if the check was big enough” (“Hot Stove,” MLB Network, 12/14).
IS BRAUN'S POSITIVE TEST A BAD THING? SI's David Epstein wonders while Brewers LF Ryan Braun has "denied any guilt" from his failed drug test, even if his "defense fails, is it really a black eye for baseball?" A star was "subjected to random testing, and the league that caught him is pursuing sanctions." Testing is "always a step behind the creative cheaters, but its point is to catch someone once in a while and thus serve as a deterrent." Epstein: "What greater message that testing is random and serious than a positive from an MVP?" (SI, 12/19 issue). The GLOBE & MAIL's James Christie wrote in the wake of Braun's failed drug test, "baseball's drug testing policy has at once succeeded and raised big questions." Selig's office "can point to the fact that baseball's drug tests have apparently nailed one of the game's ranking stars." But that also "shows that athletes are still taking banned substances" (THEGLOBEANDMAIL.com, 12/14).
