BASEBALL UNION OKS DRUG TESTS

Some Teams Begin Strike Preparations

NEW YORK - Baseball players said the union agreed to a drug-testing deal
Tuesday, while Commissioner Bud Selig planned to join the talks and teams
began pushing back flights to prepare for a strike.

The sides met three times Tuesday, holding two-on-two discussions instead
of trading formal proposals among the full negotiating committees.

"The drug testing is a done deal," Los Angeles Dodgers player
representative Paul Lo Duca said. "We agreed on that, and that's great.
They're getting closer and closer."

Rob Manfred, management's top labor lawyer, wouldn't say if owners agreed
to the testing plan.

"We made progress on the drug issue," he said. "Right now, I'm not
confirming or denying any agreements, proposals or potential agreements."

While there were upbeat assessments two days before the scheduled walkout,
some teams made strike preparations.

The Chicago White Sox called off their Thursday charter to Detroit and said
they would travel Friday only if there isn't a walkout. Boston rescheduled
its charter to Cleveland for Friday, too, but St. Louis will travel
Thursday for the following day's game at the Chicago Cubs, which would be
the first game affected by a strike.

Selig, who plans to fly to New York to join the talks, said he didn't know
when the last moment would be for a settlement that would enable the
schedule to remain uninterrupted.

"The closer you get to the date, it's tougher," he said from his home in
Milwaukee.

Negotiators met briefly Tuesday, and players held a telephone conference
call with the union staff. The sides, trying to avert baseball's ninth work
stoppage since 1972, held a lengthy session in the afternoon and met late
at night.

"They're trying to get the structure figured out as much as they can
without making formal proposals back and forth and eliminating some of the
unneeded red tape in the middle," said Arizona's Rick Helling, a member of
the union's executive board.

Lo Duca said the drug agreement included a penalty phase for positive
tests, and help would be available for players who have problems.

"They're going to have the random testing for steroids, marijuana and
cocaine," Lo Duca said. "What they agreed on was once in spring training,
and then random tests during the year, which I think is very good. Once you
put the word 'random' in there, you don't know when it's going to happen,
so I think it's going to keep guys off and I think that's good for the game."

Brandon Inge, Detroit's assistant player representative, said players
agreed to random drug testing for two years. If 5 percent or more of those
tests come back positive in either year, mandatory testing would be
required for all players.

Manfred said no new proposals have been made since management's offer Sunday.

Owners and players disagreed on how much to increase revenue sharing and on
the level of a luxury tax on high-payroll teams that would slow salary
increases.