NEW YORK - Baseball's labor talks hit a snag when the sides went deeper into the key economic issues, leaving the union's executive board on track to set a strike date Friday.

        Rob Manfred, the owners' top labor lawyer, has repeatedly expressed optimism, but he said little headway was made at the bargaining table Wednesday.

        “Occasionally in this process, you have bumps in the road. Today probably would be a bump in the road,” he said.

        When it met Monday in Chicago, the union's executive board deferred a decision on a strike date, preferring not to add pressure to talks when they were at a delicate stage.

        The board is to hold a telephone call Friday, and without progress probably would set a strike date, most likely Aug.30, according to a person familiar with the players' deliberations who spoke on the condition he not be identified.

        “I think Friday is a big day,” Seattle Mariners pitcher Paul Abbott said. “Setting a date would spark some negotiating.”

        Union officials did not comment after the day's second bargaining session. Players and owners moved slightly on the key issues, according to several people on both sides of the talks. Today's bargaining will determine what the board does Friday.

        “I'm hopeful we'll get back at it tomorrow (today) and move the process ahead,” Manfred said.

        Management's proposal for a luxury tax on the payrolls of high-spending teams, as expected, is a divisive issue, one that could cause baseball's ninth work stoppage since 1972.

        Owners have proposed a 50 percent tax that would start with teams over $100 million, including 40-man rosters and benefits, with the full rate phased for the very highest spenders.

        The union has discussed a tax that would start with teams over about $140 million - only the New York Yankees project to be above that next year - with a much lower tax rate.

        Management wants the tax to restrain spending and salaries, while the union maintains a tax must be looked at in conjunction with revenue-sharing.

        “I don't believe that difference is an impediment to an agreement at this point,” Manfred said.

        But the difference in numbers is. Players fear that a large increase among the teams in the amount of shared locally generated revenue, when combined with a stiff luxury tax, would drain so much money from the high-revenue teams that it would cause a large drop in salaries.

        “Negotiations are never easy. You work every day to make steady progress,” said Boston Red Sox first baseman Tony Clark, the AL player representative. “I'm cautiously optimistic. It's touch and go.”

        Manfred said the sides moved closer on drug testing. While the union has proposed mandatory random resting for steroids only, owners also want testing for nutritional supplements like androstenedione and for “recreational” drugs such as cocaine.

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