Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Baseball players and owners have signed an agreement for a new labor contract, a deal that starts blood testing on human growth hormone and expands the playoffs to 10 teams by 2013.

The five-year deal collective bargaining agreement, which was announced Tuesday, makes changes owners hope will increase competitive balance by pressuring large-market teams to rein in spending on amateur draft picks and international signings.

The extra wild cards in each league will be added for next season, which means the playoff field will expand immediately, a source told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney.

At a time when the NBA season is threatened by a lockout and the NFL preseason was disrupted by labor strife, it ensures baseball will have 21 consecutive years of labor peace since the end of the 1994-95 strike.

The deal is the first contract since Michael Weiner replaced Donald Fehr as union leader last year.

It remains to be determined when HGH testing will go into effect, the source told Olney.

Blood tests will be taken on game days in spring training to see what effect they have on a player’s energy level. Those samples will be discarded immediately, the source told Olney. If the tests go well, MLB will proceed with HGH testing during regular season.

–ESPN