Baseball talks become desperate

NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Baseball negotiators met almost non-stop Thursday in hopes of preventing a potentially devastating player strike scheduled for Friday.

There was no indication of progress, however, as representatives for both sides took brief breaks and then headed back to the bargaining table.

As baseball CEO Bob DuPuy walked quickly through the rain and into the building where negotiations were taking place, he was asked how he felt.

"Tired," DuPuy said.

There were expectations that the two sides would continue meeting until a settlement was reached or they ran out of time.

"We're prepared to meet all day and into Friday morning," said MLB spokesman Rich Levin.

If the sides are unable to reach an agreement, the strike will start with Friday's scheduled contest in Chicago between the Cubs and St. Louis at Wrigley Field.

Commissioner Bud Selig arrived in New York on Wednesday to monitor the bargaining sessions. Hours after Selig's arrival, owners and the Players Association agreed on testing for steroids, a huge step forward as the deadline draws near.

"We have an agreement on the testing topic," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations. "There will be some form of unannounced testing every year of the agreement."

The testing plan would be in place for four years and would include only marijuana and cocaine "on a reasonable cause basis," Manfred said.

However, Selig admitted there remains a rift between the sides on a possible luxury tax on team payrolls and revenue sharing, which are the biggest issues.

"The same issues are unresolved," he said. "It's been very constructive and both sides are reaching out, but I can't tell you we're any closer."

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, fans in the right field seats at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City mocked the players by throwing dollar bills on the field, causing a delay of the game between the Royals and Oakland Athletics.

Boston Red Sox pitcher John Burkett cleaned out his entire locker at Fenway Park. He also packed up his items at his apartment and had them shipped to his home in Texas, saying he could live out of two suitcases for the rest of the season.

Some teams have changed travel plans to avoid flying players to cities where games might be canceled. The Chicago White Sox scrapped their charter to Detroit and Boston will delay its flight to Cleveland until Friday.

When the union agreed to set Friday as a strike day, it set in motion a chain of events that could result in the cancellation of the rest of the season for the second time in nine years.

The linchpin of the potential deal involves a proposed luxury tax on team payrolls. The owners' latest proposal calls for a tax of between 35 and 50 percent on payrolls over $107 million, with additional penalties imposed on repeat offenders.

The union has countered with a sliding scale tax that begins at 15 percent and could climb to 40 percent for repeat offenders in the third year of the four-year deal. But the union's scenario has teams being taxed on payrolls over $125 million in 2003 and increasing $10 million each season. The players also have eliminated the tax in the fourth and final year of their proposal.

The sides also differ on revenue sharing, an area in which owners have called for $263 million to be transferred in each year of the pact. The players again would like to deal in increments, beginning with just over $170 million in 2003 and increasing about $25 million per season.

The team that figures to be impacted most by a new agreement is the defending American League champion New York Yankees. It is the lone team that would be penalized under both the revenue sharing and luxury tax proposals.

Six other teams, including the Red Sox and reigning world champion Arizona Diamondbacks, have payrolls in excess of $100 million, according to management standards.

The sides have been able to agree on a number of relatively minor issues, such as minimum salaries and players' rehabilitation rights. Also, parameters also have been put in place for a worldwide player draft.