MLB owners get tougher on drugs

MILWAUKEE -- Baseball owners unanimously ratified tougher drug-testing rules today.

Players have until May 23 to ratify the drug agreement, which will increase the frequency of tests and the authority of the program's independent administrator.

Commissioner Bud Selig says he will now turn his attention to whether maple bats have become dangerous.

Selig says the executive council discussed players' use of bats made from maple wood, which seem to be shattering more frequently, and in a more dangerous fashion, than those made of ash.

Selig says the discussion was ``very premature,'' and baseball officials plan to discuss the issue with the players' association and the rules committee before taking any action.

Selig says it's too early to say if baseball would consider regulating the thickness of maple bat handles or even ban them entirely