Weiner: increased penalties are '2014 issue'

Weiner: increased penalties are '2014 issue'

Published Mar. 3, 2013 12:41 p.m. ET

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- Baseball players'
union head Michael Weiner says toughening penalties for drug violations
will have to wait until the 2014 season.


"There are going to be talks. I don't
what the result is going to be," he said Sunday after meeting with the
Baltimore Orioles as part of his tour of the 30 spring training camps.


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The current sanctions have been in place
since the 2006 season: 50 games for a first offense, 100 for a second
and a lifetime ban for a third. Selig held a news conference Saturday
and said he wanted increased penalties as soon as possible.


"Starting this offseason, we had
substantial discussion among player leadership about whether the penalty
structure we have is right -- whether there should be increases --
whether there should be a differential penalty for intentional or
unintentional users," Weiner said.


"That dialogue is continuing. We had
some dialogue even with the commissioner's office in the offseason that
didn't lead to any changes, and I suspect that we'll have those
discussions over the course of the year," he said. "But it's going to be
a 2014 issue. We're not going to change the rules of the game in the
middle of the season. In a sense, the drug-testing season started with
spring training."

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