MLBPA, owners nearing steroids agreement

NEW YORK (AP) -- After repeated prodding by Congress, baseball players and owners are nearing an agreement that would toughen the penalties for using steroids.
Negotiators would not discuss the talks, which began last spring. Several player agents said in recent days that the sides were making progress toward a deal, though they did not have direct knowledge of the bargaining.
"Last I heard, the sides were really close," Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney said Monday.
Representatives of management and the union will head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a meeting with House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., to discuss their progress toward a stiffer testing agreement, Davis spokesman Dave Marin wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Davis' committee held the March 17 hearing at which Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and other players and baseball officials testified -- and where lawmakers soundly criticized the sport's steroid penalties as too lax.
Yankees, Matsui nearing
agreement

Source: http://www.poconorecord.com/