Fans voice their opinion at the Arizona Diamondbacks-Cincinnati Reds game Thursday at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Negotiators for baseball players and owners made progress on issues small and arcane Thursday. Though the key topics of revenue sharing and payroll taxes weren't discussed, both sides said there is plenty of time to reach agreement before the Aug.30 strike deadline.

        The players' negotiators received new proposals from the owners on a luxury tax last week and on revenue sharing Tuesday but have yet to respond. The union considers those two proposals part of the same issue - how much money will change hands among teams - and couldn't respond to one proposal until it had seen the other.

        With both proposals in hand, the union's executive board will craft a response.

        “We're going to discuss that tomorrow (Friday) with the board,” Gene Orza, the union's associate general counsel and chief negotiator, said Thursday night.

        “We'll lay out for the board where need to negotiate,” and a response would be prepared and delivered during the weekend, he said.

        With the strike deadline a week away, “There's enough time to get two deals done,” Orza said.

        Rob Manfred, the owners' chief negotiator who was clearly frustrated two nights ago that the union hadn't responded on key issues, was more optimistic Thursday.

        “We had a better day today,” he said. “We've got plenty of time to resolve what needs to be resolved. If it's approached with the right frame of mind, that (time) is not an issue.”

        But that's not to say a deal will get done. “This process ... we've had points in time where the pace was good; we've had points in time where the pace wasn't good,” Manfred said. “I just don't know what to expect.”

        Both sides met three times for four hours in New York Thursday. The biggest accomplishment, Manfred said, was completion of language covering how much debt teams are allowed to carry — an issue for teams like Arizona that are heavily in debt over the cost of stadiums.

        That section “may be the single biggest piece of contract language that needed to be drafted,” Manfred said. It covers “non-player-contract debt” and says teams have to show they can generate revenue to cover their debts.

        Other issues discussed include scheduling and interleague play.

        “We had a productive day on those topics - a lot of proposals and counterproposals exchanged,” he said.

        The sides will meet through the weekend.

        “We will certainly be meeting every day until we have an agreement,” Manfred said.

D'Backs 6, Reds 3 Reds Box, Runs Sullivan OK, itching to pitch It's make-or-break time for Reds Reds at Astros series preview Labor talks moving slowly Fox's Goren on strike: 'A deal to be made.' Astros 9, Cubs 1 Cardinals 5, Pirates 4 Phillies 7, Brewers 0 Astros bolster bullpen with Flash Gordon Toledo 6, Louisville 4

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