MLB, MLBPA agree to random, in-season testing

Coincidentally, a day after the Baseball Writers Association of America did not elect a single player into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball announced a major modification in its yearly testing for human growth hormone (hGH).
Beginning this season, MLB and the MLB Players Association have agreed to allow in-season, unannounced, random blood testing. Prior to this ruling, the parties had agreed to blood testing for hGH during spring training, the offseason and for reasonable cause, "the first sport to deploy this kind of testing at its highest level," according to the MLB's press release.
"The Players are determined to do all they can to continually improve the sport's Joint Drug Agreement," MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner said in the release."Players want a program that is tough, scientifically accurate, backed by the latest proven scientific methods, and fair; I believe these changes firmly support the Players' desires while protecting their legal rights."
Further steps have also been taken to establish and maintain a player's baseline, as the two parties "have authorized the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited Montreal Laboratory to establish a longitudinal profile program, in which a Player's baseline TestosteroneEpitestosterone ratio and other data will be maintained by the laboratory, with strict protections for confidentiality, in order to enhance its ability to detect the use of Testosterone and other prohibited substances."
The decision comes one day after some of baseball's most prolific players -- notably Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens -- were all denied entry into the Hall of Fame, as suspicion of their roles in the infamous Steroid Era continues.