Drug Testing Research Paper

Drug testing for performance-enhancing drugs among MLB players is nothing new. Nevertheless, you may have seen drug test related news produced more often of late.

It’s still early in the season, but players have been outspoken about the randomness and effectiveness of drug testing. Often, it seems as though players are tested after good performances, which means the testing isn’t as random as MLB claims. This season, some examples include Anthony Rizzo being tested after bashing the system and Eric Thames taking three tests in 10 days (four overall).

But there may be a logical explanation. While year after year the MLB conducts more tests than ever before, the current system does nothing to deter young players from taking substances that
will lead to a big contract.

First, let’s take a look at the element of randomness.
After Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Starling Marte was suspended last month for PED use, harsh criticisms surfaced from his colleagues in the league. One of the more outspoken voices was Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who drew attention to the MLB drug testing procedure.

"Me, personally, I haven't been tested since the season started," Rizzo said via CSN Chicago. "It's been a solid two months now. It's a random drug test and I'll probably be drug-tested a week from now, because I'm saying this. But for me, it's 15 minutes. We should be getting drug-tested a lot more."

The league promptly drug tested Rizzo later that night. And what about Thames? Is he being tested more because he’s having a breakout season? In 2015, David Ortiz wrote for The Players’ Tribune that he has been tested over 80 times since 2004. These examples would suggest that the MLB is targeting specific players based on performance or comments they have made. But there may be more to the
story.

MLB is increasing the number of tests it conducts, which could factor into the number of times a player is tested. This increase was implemented following the “Biogenesis” fiasco of the 2013 season, which resulted in multiple suspensions of high-profile players including Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and others.

During the 2013 season, MLB reported that there were 5,391 tests conducted. That number rose to 7,929 in 2014 and crept even higher in 2015 with 8,158 tests. In 2016, there were 8,281 tests conducted among players, and that number is expected to rise to over 12,000 this year under the new collective bargaining agreement. With more tests being conducted than ever before, you could hear about players being tested multiple times throughout the season. So the apparent target on Thames isn’t necessarily because of his performance, but simply because everybody is being tested more.

As with every season, you’ll see one or two high-profile players and a multitude of young players get busted for taking banned substances. For young players, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain — why wouldn’t they take a risk and try to beat the system? A young player trying to get in the majors may try to boost their performance by taking PEDs to secure a contract from a major league team.

For a player who has a guaranteed contract, they’re still going to get paid handsomely and people may forget about the suspension by the end of the year if his team doesn’t make the playoffs. If any player receives a suspension during the regular season, they’re not eligible to participate in the postseason. At the end of the day, they’re still getting paid.

When a hot new player tries to beat the system, it’s a major disappointment for the team and the league.
But MLB commissioner Rob Manfred still has faith in the system. Following Marte’s suspension, Manfred said in a press conference, “I do not see it as a program failure that we have positive tests. I doubt we will ever get to the point where any sport can say with 100 percent certainty that no athlete is using a performance-enhancing drug. Occasionally, athletes are going to make a bad decision. We have a program in place that is the best at catching them if they make that decision.”

So, no matter how effective you deem the current drug testing policy, MLB believes it has a system in place that does the best job at holding players accountable through random testing. As the number of tests increase, so will the number of tests each player must provide. This will, in effect, give players less of a chance to evade the system. So even if three tests in 10 days seems a bit excessive, you can know with certainty that players are adhering to the rules of
MLB.