Baseball players and owners agreed yesterday to drop the possibility of fines for steroid use, leaving suspensions as the only discipline, according to management’s top labor lawyer.

“We do have an agreement with [union head Donald Fehr] that the language after the disjunctive in the various disciplinary levels is going to be eliminated,” Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations, said. “It will be just the straight suspension, which everybody knew was going to happen anyway. To the degree there was any doubt, I think this change should put to rest any concerns in that regard.”

Congressmen repeatedly criticized baseball for the fine possibility during Thursday’s hearing before the House Government Reform Committee. Commissioner Bud Selig repeatedly responded during the hearing that his intent was to suspend players for all positive tests.

Baseball’s new agreement had called for a 10-day suspension or up to $10,000 fine for a first positive test. A second positive was to result in a 30-day suspension or up to $25,000 fine, a third in a 60-day suspension or up to $50,000 fine, and a fourth in a one-year suspension or up to $100,000 fine. After that, discipline was to be determined by the commissioner. Now, it’s suspensions only.

The announcement of the elimination of fines from the agreeement followed a statement from Senator John McCain yesterday, in which he said he thought legislation may be needed to force a tougher plan.

“It just seems to me they can’t be trusted,” the Arizona Republican told ABC’s “This Week” yesterday morning. “It seems to me that we ought to seriously consider… a law that says all professional sports have a minimum level of performance-enhancing drug testing.”

House Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he agreed with McCain’s suggestion that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency could be called in to govern baseball’s testing. The agency oversees drug testing and discipline for U.S. Olympic athletes.

Davis, whose committee subpoenaed current and former stars and baseball executives to testify Thursday, said he’s willing to wait and see how Major League Baseball handles drug testing and punishment in 2005.

“They’ve got this season. We’ll see how they respond when they find someone testing positive,” Davis told CBS.

In March 2004, McCain’s Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on steroids in baseball, pressure that helped lead to the drug-testing plan that owners and players agreed to in January. McCain, who initially gave his support to the new testing agreement, withdrew that support when details of the pact emerged.

“I was a little dubious about the necessity of having hearings because I had been told that baseball had installed a weak, but legitimate, regimen,” McCain said. “I now applaud my colleagues in the House because what this highlighted was the absolute insensitivity of both the owners and the players to the American people.”

Asked about possible government intervention, Manfred told CBS: “Commissioner Selig said unequivocally in the hearing that if Congress decides that federal legislation is appropriate, that he would be supportive.”