BOB: Union and Players Agree On New Joint Drug Agreement
by Brian BorawskiApril 16, 2008
Union, MLB agree on new joint drug agreement
Several of the recommendations made in the Mitchell Report have been incorporated into a new Joint Drug Agreement that both the players’ union and the league have signed off on. The players and teams all have to agree on it but you’d have to expect that if it’s gotten this far, the rest is a formality.
The agreement disbands the Health Policy Advisory Council and it sets up an Independent Program Administrator (IPA). The first IPA will be Dr. Bryan Smith and his initial term will be three years. Six hundred tests per year have been added and there’s a mandate that the IPA will set up a mandatory educational program. Beginning in 2009 there will be uniform certification requirements for full-time strength and conditioning coaches that work for the teams and beginning in 2010, there will be guidelines issued by the league that will help ensure that qualified strength and conditioning coaches will be made available to players at all levels of each organization.
By far the most interesting piece of the agreement is the IPA. In the past, MLB’s independent commissioner has come back to bite the owners in the backside so it’ll be interesting how this all plays out over time.
Marlins and Miami-Dade County agree to split security duties
It looks like the Florida Marlins stadium deal isn’t a forgone conclusion after all. Miami-Dade County recently agreed to a deal that would split security duties at the new ballpark between the county and the city. Now the city commission needs to give its stamp of approval but that isn’t a done deal because both the police and fire unions oppose the deal. We won’t know for sure what will happen until this summer when both the city and the county need to approve a management agreement with the team and the whole stadium project could hinge on what happens.
Under the agreement, the county would provide security to the actual ballpark and the area 100 feet out. The city would then be responsible for traffic, the parking areas and the proposed commercial and retail projects that are expected to surround the site of the ballpark.
One a Day becomes official vitamin of MLB
Bayer, the maker of the One a Day vitamin brand, recently signed on with MLB for four years to become the official multivitamin of Major League Baseball. The company and the league have also agreed to donate $10 for every strikeout during the 2008 to the Prostrate Cancer Foundation. Jim Thome has agreed to be the official sponsor for the vitamin.
Twins choose food service company for new ballpark
Delaware North Company's Sportservice has signed on with the Minnesota Twins to provide food, beverage and retail management at the Twins new ballpark. The partnership will span eight years and makes Sportservice the ballpark’s exclusive concessionaire, and also gives Sportservice a management role in all Twins Pro Shop stores through the surrounding area.
More late in the game news
I received a solid response from my announcement last week for the symposium being put on by the Detroit chapter of SABR and I’m happy to announce a new resource. You can now check out all of the activities for the happenings on April 26 and April 27 on the Detroit Chapter’s newly constructed website. There’s also still a couple of slots open for sponsorships so if your company wants some inexpensive advertising geared toward a baseball heavy crowd, please email me at the address below.
Brian Borawski is a member of SABR's Business of Baseball Committee and writes about the Detroit Tigers at his own website, TigerBlog. He welcomes comments, questions and suggestions via e-mail.