From the NY Daily News:
Amid a recent spike in drunk-driving incidents, Major League Baseball is seeking to discipline players for alcohol-related incidents that currently fall outside of its zone of authority.
With the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 11, MLB wants the new CBA to contain a provision allowing commissioner Bud Selig to discipline players such as Shin-Soo Choo of the Cleveland Indians, who earlier this week became the sixth major leaguer cited for driving under the influence in 2011.
"This certainly has been something that we've been discussing in our ongoing collective bargaining talks," said league spokesman Pat Courtney.
Other players involved in DUI cases this year have been Austin Kearns, Miguel Cabrera, Adam Kennedy, Derek Lowe and Coco Crisp. Cabrera was arrested in February after police officers caught him drinking from a bottle of Scotch on the side of a Florida road. None of the players was suspended.
The current CBA doesn't specifically empower the commissioner's office to suspend players for alcohol-related offenses, but the league's drug policy includes a disciplinary framework for players linked to "drugs of abuse," which include cocaine and marijuana.
Interesting subject. To us, it's a no-brainer: A player who gets a DUI conviction should be suspended, and it should be a set number of games just like the PED policy. We're not sure the right number is -- five games? 10 games? -- but there should be a price to pay. The fact that no suspensions were handed out by teams is telling.
