NEW YORK - The baseball commissioner's top deputy met with Pete Rose and his business agent in Florida last month, part of negotiations that could lead to the reinstatement of the sport's career hits leader.

Bob DuPuy, baseball's president and chief operating officer, traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to speak with Rose and his business agent, Warren Greene, on Dec. 16.

Commissioner Bud Selig had met secretly with Rose in Milwaukee on Nov. 25.

DuPuy declined to comment on the status of negotiations, which became public Dec. 9.

"We've got a pending application. We're continuing to review that petition," DuPuy said Wednesday. "The commissioner has discussed it with Pete. Other than that, I don't have anything to say."

Baseball officials say the next step is to schedule Selig's meeting with Hall of Famers. Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame as long as he is on the permanently banned list.

Selig originally planned to talk with them on Jan. 17 in Los Angeles, then called it off. He said last week he still intends to talk with them but has not set a date for a meeting, possibly before the start of spring training in mid-February.