PHOENIX – Baseball players gave their lawyers the go-ahead yesterday to reach an agreement with owners on tougher testing for steroids.

After negotiations with management were outlined to the executive board of the players’ association, union head Donald Fehr said the board “authorized us to attempt to conclude an agreement consistent with those discussions.”

Commissioner Bud Selig repeatedly has called for more frequent testing and harsher penalties for steroid use, stepping up the intensity following reports of grand jury testimony in a steroid investigation that includes Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Gary Sheffield.

“We’re very pleased they’re coming to the table, and we hope we can achieve a program that works,” said Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer.

About 40 players attended the meeting, union spokesman Greg Bouris said.

Fehr defended the current program, saying it would work if “it had been given time.” Each player was tested once in 2004 during a period between the start of spring training and the end of the regular season.

In 2003, anonymous tests were conducted as a survey, and 5% to 7% came back positive. Fehr thought the number of positive tests declined this year but did not provide specifics.

Also yesterday, baseball’s plans to market Bonds’s pursuit of the home run record have been put on hold. The commissioner’s office and a corporate sponsor it was courting for the campaign canceled a meeting on the project. Baseball said it had hoped MasterCard International would sponsor the promotion.

“We continue to assess the ramifications that these issues will have on our business,” DuPuy said yesterday. “It’s another reason why we need to restore the confidence of not only our fans, but of our partners.”

Baseball already had sent the company detailed materials and artwork pitching the campaign. But the meeting was called off following last week’s report that Bonds testified he took substances that federal prosecutors say are steroids.

Bonds finished the 2004 season with 703 homers, 52 shy of Hank Aaron’s record, and at his recent pace he would reach the mark late next year or in 2006.

The program created by baseball called for a campaign in 2005 building to the game in which Bonds would break Aaron’s record. A nationally televised on-field ceremony would offer significant exposure for a corporate sponsor. Teams the Giants visit would be invited to be part of the marketing plan.

Bonds was to be approached for his inclusion in the campaign, but plans had not progressed that far. He opted out of the marketing plan of the Major League Baseball Players Association last year, and he now controls his own image.