MIAMI -- Players who test positive for opioids would enter treatment and not be suspended under the change to Major League Baseball's drug agreement being negotiated by management and the players' association, according to union head Tony Clark.
Talks to add testing for opioids began following the death this year of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Players have been tested for performance-enhancing substances since 2004 and for banned stimulants since 2006.
"We believe wholeheartedly, as we always have, that the treatment option and not discipline is the best route to go," Clark said Wednesday as the union's executive board finished its annual meeting.