Drug testing and MLB's World Cup plans

Major League Baseball's plans for a World Cup tournament featuring professional players appears to be progressing. The New York Times reports that MLB, the Players' Association, and the International Baseball Federation are working on overcoming the contentious issue of testing for performance-enhancing drugs.

The union opposes mandatory drug testing, but an international competition would have to conform with Olympic standards, which require testing. The International Baseball Federation has said that it would not support MLB's World Cup tournament unless there is Olympic-type drug testing.

Unfortunatly, maintaining stricter standards than MLB's internal ones could limit the talent pool for the tournament. The Times quotes the New York Yankees' Jorge Posada, a potential starting catcher for Puerto Rico: "I'm not going to stop taking something, vitamins or creatine, just to go play five or six games. The money is over here."

Similarly, the St. Petersburg Times quotes Gene Orza, the Players' Association's chief operating officer, as saying: "I think we can accomplish something that is acceptable to the IBAF.There is a different level of voluntariness in participating in the World Cup over playing in the regular season. No one is forced to play in the World Cup. No one is forced to play in the Olympics."