After repeated prodding by Congress, baseball players and owners are nearing an agreement that would toughen the penalties for using steroids.
Negotiators would not discuss the talks, which began last spring. Several player agents said in recent days that the sides were making progress toward a deal, though they did not have direct knowledge of the bargaining.
"Last I heard, the sides were really close," Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney said Monday.
Representatives of management and the union will head to Capitol Hill today for a meeting with House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., to discuss their progress toward a stiffer testing agreement, Davis spokesman Dave Marin wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Davis' committee held the March 17 hearing at which Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and other players and baseball officials testified — and where lawmakers soundly criticized the sport's steroid penalties as too lax.
Baseball owners are to meet Thursday in Milwaukee. Last January, when the union and management revised their 2002 agreement, the changes were announced following an owners meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred and union general counsel Michael Weiner both declined to comment on the talks. Commissioner Bud Selig said last week that he was "hopeful that baseball can solve this problem itself."
The penalty for a first positive test was said by several people to be the largest obstacle to an agreement.
Selig proposed in April that the penalties be 50 games for a first positive, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third, up from 10 days, 30 days and 60 days under the deal that began this year.
In September, union head Donald Fehr countered with 20 games, 75 games and a penalty set by the commissioner.
DEVIL RAYS MAKE HIRE: The Tampa Bay Devil Rays hired Los Angeles Angels bench coach Joe Maddon as manager, adding another important piece to what they hope is a winning formula for the future.
Maddon finalized a contract Monday for his first full-time managing job in the major leagues. He replaces Lou Piniella and inherits a solid nucleus of young talent that ownership expects to blossom in the next few years.
The Devil Rays confirmed the hiring, scheduling a press conference for today to introduce Maddon as Piniella's successor. The St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune reported in Monday editions that the team selected Maddon over incumbent Devil Rays bench coach John McLaren the day before.
ALSO: Texas Rangers executive John Hart has withdrawn as a candidate for the Los Angeles Dodgers' general manager's job. The 57-year-old Hart resigned as GM of the Rangers on Oct. 4. He had talked with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in early November . . . Hideki Matsui's agent and the New York Yankees neared agreement Monday on a four-year contract worth about $50 million. Arn Tellem and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman faced an end-of-Tuesday deadline to reach a deal.