Baseball union head honcho Michael Weiner said on Monday that there has been talk about increasing the penalties for players who test positive for performance enhancing drugs (PED). This coming on the heels of the Biogenesis scandal unfolding in Florida, and several high profile PED related suspensions last season.

Currently, if a player tests positive for a PED he receives a 50 game suspension for the first offense, 100 games for the second offense, and a lifetime ban for a third offense. To date no one has failed a third test and received the lifetime ban.

What really stuck out to me in the round of interviews Wiener gave was that while there are discussions about increased penalties, he actually feels the best way to deter PED use is through more effective testing. I think that sounds about right, and the expanded drug testing program MLB will be rolling out this year is a huge step in the right direction.

In fact, MLB’s drug testing program- which was easily the best in major pro sports in 2012- is light-years ahead of both the NFL and NBA. Starting this season, MLB will become the first major sport to do in-season blood tests for Human Growth Hormone (HGH), and they will begin employing a new, cutting-edge test designed to catch users of synthetic testosterone.

At the moment any athlete in both the NFL and the NBA can take HGH to their heart’s delight and not worry about being caught. I have absolutely no idea how much HGH actually helps an athlete’s performance, but I do know that MLB will be the only sport that doesn’t give free-reign to its use.

Synthetic testosterone is already being tested for in all major pro sports, but it leaves its users systems so fast it often times doesn’t show up in routine drug tests. The new test will establish a baseline level of testosterone in each player, and allow for additional sample testing, which super smart scientist type people tell us will make it much harder to get away with taking synthetic testosterone.

As teams prepare for the 2013 season, baseball- once maligned for not doing enough to curb PED use- is leading the way when it comes to cleaning up its sport. The NFL is still shuffling its feat in instituting HGH testing, and the testing they are doing for other PEDs is notoriously half-assed. The NBA tests each of their players four times a year, meaning after a player receives his fourth test he’s basically free to put anything he wants in his body.

People have all sorts of opinions about steroids in baseball, but I think most of us can agree that we’re sick of focusing on it. Anything that will allow us to focus on the game, rather than what players are putting in their bodies is a good thing.