The plan, to become effective in the 2005 season and extend to 2008, must still be ratified by the 30 clubs and members of the players association.
Baseball's drug policy came under the microscope as the BALCO steroid distribution probe implicated stars such as Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi.
The existing programme only allowed players to be randomly tested once in two parts over five to seven days from the start of Spring training to the end of the regular season. It also called for punishment only after a second positive test - a 15-day suspension without pay or a $10,000 fine, plus the public releasing of the player's name. Only after five positive tests could a player be suspended for a year without pay or fined $100,000.
The programme will carry a 10-day suspension without pay for a first offence, followed by a 30-day suspension for a second offence, a 60-day ban for a third offense and a one-year suspension for a fourth offence, reports MLB.com.
All players will be subjected to at least one unannounced test on a randomly selected date during the playing season.
The agreement places no specific limit on the number of additional tests to which any player may randomly be subjected, and further includes random testing during the off-season, wherever a player resides.
