NEW YORK -- Baseball players and management hope to reach a new drug agreement this week that would increase initial penalties for muscle-building steroids and allow a decrease of suspensions for some positive tests caused by unintentional use, people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. Patrick Corbin Jersey . For future suspensions, the deal also would eliminate the loophole allowing Alex Rodriguez to earn almost $3 million during his season-long ban, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity in recent days because talks are ongoing. The sides hope to reach an agreement by Sunday, when the Los Angeles Dodgers open the U.S. portion of the major league schedule at the San Diego Padres. While the lengths have not been finalized, a person involved with the talks said Wednesday the most likely penalties would be about 80 games for an initial testing violation and a season-long ban for a second. "It will be a significant deterrent because players will know theyre not going to just easily walk back into a lineup," Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in a telephone interview. "It probably is the best policy in professional sports." For use of a limited group of substances, the sides were discussing giving the arbitration panel that hears appeals grievances the authority to reduce suspensions by as much as 50 per cent if the player proves the positive test was caused by unintentional use, the person said. "What were all here for it to rid sports of the intentional cheats, those who are intending to defraud both the fans and their fellow teammates, the integrity of competition," Tygart said. "You want to have provisions in place that allow for whether theres an inadvertent or a truly non-intentional situation which may arise." Since the 2006 season, the Major League Baseballs drug agreement has called for a 50-game suspension for a first positive steroids test, a 100-game ban for a second and a lifetime penalty for a third. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called for tougher penalties last March, and then-union head Michael Weiner said players would consider them for 2014. Weiner died in November and was succeeded by former All-Star Tony Clark, who has led the negotiations. Major League Baseballs investigation of the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic led to 14 suspensions last summer, including a 65-game penalty for former NL MVP Ryan Braun of Milwaukee and a 211-game ban for Rodriguez, which was reduced to 162 games in January by an arbitrator. The section covering violations not related to positive tests, which was used by Selig in the Biogenesis case, will be clarified but still will allow discipline for "just cause." Many players have advocated stiffer penalties as a deterrent. Arizona pitcher Brad Ziegler spoke out after Jhonny Peralta, who served a 50-game suspension, agreed in November to a $53 million, four-year contract with St. Louis. "We thought 50 games would be a deterrent. Obviously its not. So we are working on it again," he tweeted then. "It pays to cheat... Thanks, owners, for encouraging PED use." Some players said suspensions should lead to larger monetary losses. San Diego Padres outfielder Will Venable maintained last summer "somehow having to forfeit or void your contract that youre under is something that needs to be the main focus of the penalties." But for the majority of players, that would go too far. "Id venture to guess that even though there are concerns on a number of levels, that we will never end up in a world where player contracts are voided as a result," Clark told the AP during a January interview. Addressing positives caused by inadvertent use was a factor in the talks. Philadelphia infielder Freddy Galvis was suspended for 50 games in June 2012 for a Clostebol Metabolite, which he later claimed was contained in a foot cream he used. Reliever Guillermo Mota, then with San Francisco, was suspended for 100 games in May 2012 after taking a cough syrup with Clenbuterol. The new deal also will state that a player receives none of his salary during a season-long suspension. The current deal said a player loses as many days pay as games he is suspended. Since players are paid over a 183-day season this year, arbitrator Fredric Horowitz ruled Rodriguez was entitled to 21-183rds of his $25 million salary, or $2,868,852. "Thats fantastic," Tygart said. "You hit them in the pocketbook, and thats really where the cheaters are most deterred from attempting to steal money from the other players." Nick Ahmed Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. http://www.diamondbacksapparelsshop.com/aj-pollock-jersey-c-11/ .C. -- Kurt Busch put his chances at "70 per cent" at running the Indianapolis 500 this year because of recent developments that have pushed a potential program along.The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Monday night when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder earned the Game 1 win with a 100-86 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma City dominated the first half and led by 22 at the break, but saw its lead shrink to just two points in the fourth quarter. The Thunder pulled away late once the defensive intensity picked up on the OKC end. "In the third quarter, our defense wasnt as aggressive, but give them credit. They came out when they were down a big number, they came out better," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "We didnt get the stops in the third that allowed us to play at our pace, but we responded and had a very good fourth quarter." Kevin Durant finished with 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Thunder. Durant scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting over the final 12 minutes. Russell Westbrook added 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Serge Ibaka had 17 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the win. Zach Randolph paced the Grizzlies with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Mike Conley and Marc Gasol finished with 16 points apiece. Conley added 11 assists in the setback. "It was an interesting game. They came out with a lot of force like we anticipated. They played with a lot of force, went to the rim and got out in transition," said Grizzlies coach David Joerger. "We did a good job managing our turnovers, but to allow them to get 21 points on fastbreak points is just way too many for us. Luis Gonzalez Jersey. " Memphis scored the first six points of the third and had the lead to single digits, 60-51, following Tony Allens three-point play with 7:17 remaining in the third. A pair of Ibaka free throws just over a minute later pushed the Thunders spread back to 11, but the Grizzlies scored six straight to make it 64-59 with 3:49 to go. The teams traded baskets and OKC took an eight-point edge, but Randolphs layup in the closing seconds of the third made it 69-65 entering the final frame. Mike Millers first points of the game came with 8:46 when he nailed the 3- pointer that made it a two-point game. Durant then drew in a trio of defenders as he slashed to the hoop and dropped the ball off to Ibaka, who slammed it home as he was fouled. Ibaka sank the free throw and OKC went 3-for-4 from the free throw line to make it 80-72. Durant nailed a cold-blooded trey with 7:16 left to open a 10-point lead and the Grizzlies never got within single digits the rest of the way. "We never broke, we did a great job staying together," Westbrook said. The Thunder outscored the Grizzlies 32-13 in transition, despite forcing just six turnovers. OKC was 28-for-32 from the free throw line while Memphis finished a hideous 18-for-31 from the charity stripe. Memphis won the battle of the paint, 50-34, but was outrebounded 51-41. Grizzlies starting forward Tayshaun Prince played just under five minutes on Saturday due to illness. He is expected to be back in the starting lineup on Monday. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday night in Memphis. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '