NEW YORK (AP) – Jose Guillen’s 15-day suspension would start Thursday unless baseball players and owners agree on changes to their drug rules or the penalty is put on hold again.
Major League Baseball and the players’ union announced March 28 they were putting the suspensions of Guillen and Jay Gibbons on hold for 10 days, giving lawyers more time to reach an agreement that would toughen the drug policy.
When the sides discussed the matter last week, they agreed the hold would last through games of April 9, the union’s Michael Weiner and management’s Rob Manfred said Monday.
The sides have said for several weeks that they were close to a deal that would increase testing and strengthen the authority of the drug program’s administrator. If a deal is reached, as expected, the suspensions likely would be eliminated.
Kansas City hosts the New York Yankees in a series starting Tuesday. Gibbons was released by the Baltimore Orioles on March 30, and any penalty would begin after he signs with another major league team.
Guillen and Gibbons were suspended on Dec. 6 by commissioner Bud Selig following media reports linking them to performance-enhancing drugs. Gibbons admitted receiving human growth hormone in 2005 and apologized. Guillen has not addressed the matter.
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