NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball will move to the second phase of its steroid screening program after five to seven percent of tests came up positive in the first phase.
While the union did not disclose specific numbers, the percentage means between 72-100 of the 1,438 unannounced tests came up positive.
During the first round of screenings, players' identities were not disclosed. Because the number of positives exceeded the established threshold of five percent, the second round will not be anonymous.
"A positive rate of five percent is hardly the sign that you have rampant use of anything," said Rob Manfred, MLB's representative on the Health Policy Advisory Committee. "From our perspective, it's still a problem. We'd like to be at zero."
All players on 40-man rosters were tested randomly earlier this year. An additional 240 were screened a second time. As a result, the actual number of players who tested positive is not known.
