The quieter section of yesterday's big steroid agreement might ultimately be the most important, though; anyone caught using "greenies" (still a dumb name, by the way) will receive mandatory follow up testing on the first offense and, if nailed again, will miss 25 games. Another positive test will cost him 80 games, and a fourth ... well, you might not see the guy much after that. Considering how apparently common amphetamine use is, this could get pretty huge pretty fast.

Some players are already freaking out, including Mike Stanton, who fortunately for him, probably won't be employed next year. "I don't condone using something, but this sport is unlike any other sport," he told the New York Post. "We play every day. We travel every three days. We get in at 5 in the morning. I'm not condoning using greenies or anything like that. My question is, what the cutoff will be. Can people still drink coffee? Can people still drink things like Red Bull? Some greenies are basically caffeine pills."

Amphetamines are one thing. Banning Red Bull? Donald Fehr is dialing the phone right now.

Policy Puts Red Light On Greenies [NY Post]

The Boston Globe tackles the issue in Sunday's paper, and even though they confuse Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll with his father at one point, they've got some good stuff. Essentially, players are freaked out that their pep pills might be banned by the new drug rules. Most notably, Red Sox cro-mag Johnny Damon, comparing steroids to uppers:

"[Steroids are] a performance-enhancing drug, the other is a ... way guys get ready to play over 162 games. That gets to be tough. We'll see what kind of penalties they want. I think it would be real tough if they threw 25 games or 75 games or a commissioner's decision [at amphetamine users]. We need to see what guys can possibly take. There are days I can't get going when I have to drink two, three cups of coffee to get jittery. We're probably going to see a lot of lethargic guys out there."

We've always heard that almost everybody in baseball took speed to keep going, but we've never heard it said so explicitly, and on the record, before. We're going to start thinking of chewing tobacco to baseball players the way that, say, baby pacifiers for ecstacy-addled ravers. They're not addicted to chaw; they just need something to do with their teeth.

A Pill More Bitter Than Steroids [Boston Globe]