NEW YORK - Baseball players ended decades of opposition to mandatory drug testing Wednesday by agreeing to be checked for illegal steroids starting next year.

        Under the proposal, which addresses one of the key issues in contract talks, players would be subjected to one or more unannounced tests in 2003 to detect steroid use. If the survey showed “insignificant” use, a second round of tests would be set up in 2004 to verify the results.

        If more than 5 percent of the tests are positive in either survey, players will be tested randomly for two years.

        The union did not say what penalties, if any, would be levied against players who test positive for steroids.

        “We had an obligation to bargain on it. It was a serious issue,” union head Donald Fehr said. “It took a lot of time and effort and thought.”

        It was unclear how management would react to the players' offer.

        “We haven't had any feedback yet,” Fehr said.

        Owners have proposed far more extensive testing. Players would be tested three times a year for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and once a year for illegal drugs such as cocaine.

        Former MVPs Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti admitted steroid use earlier this year, and Canseco estimated that up to 85 percent of all major-leaguers took muscle-enhancing drugs during the years he played, 1985 to 2001.

        “As players, we want to be able to clear our name from what Caminiti and Canseco said,” Toronto's Vernon Wells said. “Unfortunately, we have to prove our innocence. If none of that happened, we wouldn't have to do this.”

        Fehr wouldn't say how widespread support for testing was among players. USA Today reported last month that it surveyed 750 players and 79 percent of those responding supported independent testing for steroid use.

        The NFL and NBA test players for steroids and illegal drugs. The NHL's policy icy similar to baseball's, testing only if there is cause, such as when a player is convicted of a crime involving drugs or enters rehabilitation for substance abuse.

        Under the players union proposal, players also could be tested for illegal steroids if teams showed “reasonable cause.”

        Both sides also discussed minimum salary, benefits and debt control.

        The union's executive board is to meet Monday in Chicago and could set a strike date for what would be baseball's ninth work stoppage since 1972.

        Players fear that without a contract to replace the deal that expired Nov.7, owners would change work rules or lock them out after the World Series. The union wants to control the timing of a potential work stoppage, preferring late in the season when more pressure is on the owners.

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