The link in the headline is to a Washington Post story detailing MLB's plans to extend its Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program to Latin America. Having written a couple of "won't somebody PLEASE think of the children" statements about the terrible toll of drug abuse by Dominican prospects, I'd like to be the first to say "way to go, MLB!" in response to this announcement.
Not only is this the right thing to do, they're going about it the right way... by extending their North American testing and treatment program, by working with the Dominican government, and most of all by saying, as Sandy Alderson stated tersely, "cost is not really a factor." I had been dismayed when MLB implied (when this story broke in June) that the cost would be a factor.
The bonus news is that MLB is looking into attempts to control the buscones as well. These "bird dogs" aren't like the bird dogs here in Notrh America, and the fact that they take ruinous percentages of signing bonuses is flat wrong. They take an agent's perks without an agent's responsibilities.
As for the testing, I'm always leery about testing for "drugs of abuse", as MLB calls them - amphetamines and cocaine the main ones. But testing for performance-enhancing drugs seems to me a necessary step. I'm glad that MLB are taking it. Hopefully, the organizations that have been putting pressure on MLB to take a more active role in Latin America will keep doing it.
Not only is this the right thing to do, they're going about it the right way... by extending their North American testing and treatment program, by working with the Dominican government, and most of all by saying, as Sandy Alderson stated tersely, "cost is not really a factor." I had been dismayed when MLB implied (when this story broke in June) that the cost would be a factor.
The bonus news is that MLB is looking into attempts to control the buscones as well. These "bird dogs" aren't like the bird dogs here in Notrh America, and the fact that they take ruinous percentages of signing bonuses is flat wrong. They take an agent's perks without an agent's responsibilities.
As for the testing, I'm always leery about testing for "drugs of abuse", as MLB calls them - amphetamines and cocaine the main ones. But testing for performance-enhancing drugs seems to me a necessary step. I'm glad that MLB are taking it. Hopefully, the organizations that have been putting pressure on MLB to take a more active role in Latin America will keep doing it.
