JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — There’s encouraging news coming out of major league contract negotiations with the lockout in its 86th day.
Baseball players and owners took a first step toward salvaging opening day, nearing agreement Friday on an amateur draft lottery. Talks included a surprise one-on-one meeting between Commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark.
While an agreement on the draft was not complete, talks appeared to gain momentum for the first time.
Talks will continue Saturday. Major League Baseball has set a Monday deadline for a deal that would ensure a 162-game season and allow openers to take place as scheduled on March 31.
The sides met three times Friday, in addition to the session between Manfred and Clark. That came after four straight days of largely fruitless negotiating sessions that focused on exchanging proposals in areas of relative minutia.
