New Drug Testing Is About to Begin

Testing under baseball’s new drug agreement will start Thursday, according to the commissioner’s office.

Lawyers for players and owners have been drafting the deal since they announced the agreement for tougher testing on Jan. 13.

“We’re going to be in the camps testing starting the 3rd of March, and I expect the language to be wrapped up in the next couple of days,” Rob Manfred, management’s executive vice president for labor relations, said Monday.

Michael Weiner, the union’s general counsel, said the sides hoped to complete the drafting before the testing starts. The deal replaces the agreement that began in September 2002.

Under the new rules, a player would be suspended for 10 days for a first positive test, 30 days for a second positive test, 60 days for a third and one year for a fourth. Under the previous deal, a player who tested positive for the first time received counseling, and his name was not publicly revealed.

Some criticized the previous agreement because once a player was tested in 2004, he could not be tested again unless doctors found cause.

As part of the new agreement, the number of random tests will increase, and players will be tested during the off-season for the first time. Players and owners also agreed to increase the number of substances that are prohibited, but they did not add amphetamines to the banned list.

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Right-hander Jake Peavy has agreed to the terms of a four-year contract with the San Diego Padres.

San Diego, which holds an option for a fifth year, plans to announce the deal after obtaining an insurance policy on Peavy, who led the majors with a 2.27 earned-run average last year.

The 23-year-old, who was 15-6, could have accepted a one-year deal worth about $500,000 and taken his chances next winter in his first year of salary arbitration. But he opted for a long-term deal with the team that drafted him in the 15th round out of high school in 1999.

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Barry Bonds took a step back in his recovery from knee surgery, but it was according to plan.

A day after taking his first swings of spring, Bonds retreated to a normal schedule of strength training and rehabilitation work with the San Francisco Giants.

He might not get back in the batting cage soon, but the seven-time National League most valuable player still is on schedule to return to action well before the Cactus League schedule ends.

“I’m going to try to hold him down as long as I can,” trainer Stan Conte said.

“We’re going back to the original plan. I just don’t want him out there, because he gets caught up in it, and then he’s doing more than he should.”

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Former Arizona third baseman Matt Williams was hired as a special assistant to Jeff Moorad, the Diamondbacks’ general partner.