MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred following the the conclusion of quarterly owners' meetings in N.Y. on Thursday said that the league and MLBPA have held a dozen formal bargaining sessions thus far toward a new labor agreement. The current five-year accord expires Dec. 1, and Manfred cheered the early progress toward a new deal. "They've gotten off to a great start. Twelve meetings at this point in the calendar is a really good schedule," Manfred said. "Not only have they met, but have developed a plan for those meetings to get a lot of issues out on the table. That's how the beginning of the process works. You have to get everything out there before you can figure how to put the pieces together. ... I am hopeful we will find a way to make an agreement on the calendar we have used the last three times, and make an agreement in a way that is good for our fans." The current drug testing program has yielded eight MLB suspensions thus far this season, one more than all of last year and far higher than '14 or '13. Manfred said improved science lies at the heart of the spike. "The windows of detection on certain substances have been lengthened. ... It's just science getting better," he said. "That may be one explanation for what we're seeing. We're still running at a positive rate on the tests of less than one half of one percent. So it's not really out of line with where we have been over time" (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
DON'T BITE THE APPLE: In N.Y., Christian Red reports Manfred believes the current drug-testing program "is effective." However, he said that "contrary to some tweets by the media that announcements of more positive drug tests are imminent, 'there's not some big additional group of positives sitting out there, I can tell you that.'" Manfred: "Positive drug tests -- good news, bad news -- you never want a player to test positive. On the other hand, we do know that performance-enhancing drugs are a constant temptation and when you catch somebody, it's validation of the fact that we have an effective program" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/20).
GET THAT OUTTA HERE: In Boston, Evan Drellich notes Red Sox DH David Ortiz and Cubs P Jake Arrieta are among the players who recently have been accused of using PEDs, and Manfred "thinks those accusations shouldn't arise to begin with." Manfred: "That kind of speculation, I've found it to be distasteful. I can't think of a better word. It's just inappropriate. There's one way to know. Did he test positive or did he not?" Red Sox President Sam Kennedy "acknowledged the subject hits home after what Ortiz has gone through." Kennedy: "It's completely and totally inappropriate and unfair. It grows out of the unfortunate era where there was a lot of PED use, but now thanks to baseball, we're in a different era. It's just wildly unfair for people to speculate or accuse because that's a horrible thing, to be accused of something you're not doing" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/20).
