MLB, players’ union report positive talks on opioids testing

By: Ronald Blum, The Associated Press Posted: 7:02 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 Last Modified: 7:03 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019

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HOUSTON - Major League Baseball and its players' union are optimistic talks are progressing on testing for opioids following the death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

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HOUSTON - Major League Baseball and its players' union are optimistic talks are progressing on testing for opioids following the death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

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This article was published 23/10/2019 (2479 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HOUSTON – Major League Baseball and its players’ union are optimistic talks are progressing on testing for opioids following the death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

“The dialogue in this has been really positive with the players association, a lot of common ground on addressing the issue,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday before Game 2 of the World Series. “We understand that our workforce is a microcosm of society. There’s a societal problem.”

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room on July 1 before the start of a series against the Texas Rangers. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said the 27-year-old died after choking on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his body.

FILE - In this May 25, 2019, file photo, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels say they do not know whether a longtime public relations official had been providing drugs to late pitcher Skaggs, as detailed in a report on ESPN's "Outside the Lines." Eric Kay, a 24-year employee of the Angels' PR department, told the Drug Enforcement Agency he had provided opioids to Skaggs and used them with the pitcher for years, according to the ESPN report Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. Kay reportedly watched as Skaggs snorted three lines of crushed pills in his hotel room in Texas, on the night before he was found dead. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

While the joint program of MLB and the players’ association has testing with penalties for performance-enhancing drugs and banned stimulants, opioids are included in drugs of abuse and not subject to testing with penalties for players on 40-man rosters.

Players with minor league contracts are subject to testing for opioids with discipline.

“Tyler hit home for a number of guys that knew him and a number of guys that didn’t,” union head Tony Clark said. “Whether the players know of another player, they may know somebody in the family that’s struggling with it. So it still hits close to home.”

The joint drug agreement has a provision calling for annual updating.

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