MLB: One and Done is the Only Answer

If the Major League Baseball Player's Association wants anyone to take them seriously when it claims that they want to get rid of the steroid epidemic in their game, there is only one way to do it: baseball needs a policy of one strike and you're out, not three.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the first time a player fails a steroid test, he gets 50 games off. The next time, the penalty is more severe, 100 games. Only if a player fails the test three different times is his career then in jeopardy.
This agreement has got to go. All this did was appease the owners that there was some type of testing and consequenses in place.
Donald Fehr says that he and the players want to put an end to this problem.
I say that all of them need to put their money where their mouths are and institute a "one and done" policy.
Under the terms of this agreement, if a player fails a test for steroids or HGH JUST ONCE, he will be banned from baseball for life.
No "extra chances", no milking the system for as long as you can until you get busted a second time. You will take it seriously from the start, and you will know going into professional baseball that you only get one shot. Then, and only then, will players take each and every screening test seriously.
Of course, there will be room for error. Some people say that you can't do that because what if the test has been tampered with.
OK, I'll give you that, there is that possibility. But more than likely, that instance would only happen once. To think that a test could be botched twice on the same player is unrealistic. So, if a player's test turns up positive, he is to be called in IMMEDIATELY for another sample. If he's truly clean, the second test will reveal that result.
But, if a player comes up dirty a second time, that's it. He obviously is doing something wrong, and he should know that he tossed a multi-million dollar career out the window.
Let's face it folks, the public, the people who are paying the exorbitant ticket prices and buying all of the jerseys, T-shirts, jackets, hats, and everything else with their team's logo on it, deserve - and demand - to know that these players that they are coming out to see are not just playing by the rules, but by the law. Let's not forget that first and foremost, steroids and HGH are illegal, plain and simple. So, using them isn't just breaking a policy or a league rule, it's breaking the law.
The fans deserve better than this, and it's time that the league and the union got on the same page and showed the world that they are seriously doing something to eliminate the problem.