Padres’ Smith Reaffirms His Tough Drug Stand--With One Modification

SAN DIEGO —  Ballard Smith, president of the San Diego Padres who had angered players with his hard line concerning drug tests and his criticism of the team’s play, held a 70-minute, closed-door team meeting Friday before a home game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Afterward, team representative Tim Flannery said: “I think it was more of a confused atmosphere. We talked about a lot of things.”

Smith, who earlier had said that he would not sign players to more than one-year contracts unless there is some kind of drug agreement with the Major League Players Assn., reaffirmed that stand after the meeting.

But he seemed to back off a bit on his refusal to sign any players with a drug history. After Friday’s meeting, he admitted he might be interested in signing Montreal outfielder Tim Raines, a free agent after this season. “If he’s had problems in the past, we’ll take a look at him,” Smith said. “I won’t automatically say no.”

He said that just because the Padres may not sign players who have had drugs in their past, it doesn’t mean the team is going to be terrible. “I think you can have a winning team that is drug free,” he said.

Smith also said the players were upset that he had “ripped” the team, specifically outfielder Kevin McReyolds, and he vowed not to do that again.