Fifteen years ago, major league clubs secretly created an information bank to which clubs reported all offers to free agents. The players' union, upon learning of its existence, filed a grievance, contending that the bank was the clubs' way of colluding against free agents. An arbitrator agreed, ruling that it violated the collective bargaining agreement.þþEarlier this year the clubs included an information bank in their comprehensive proposal for a new agreement, but the union was not thrilled with the idea. At a bargaining session yesterday, the teams' negotiating team withdrew that element of the proposal.þþÿUnder our proposal, the clubs could call an independent source to verify offers to free agents,ÿ said Rob Manfred, the owners' chief labor lawyer. ÿIt could be an accounting firm or even the union. The concept was the same as the old one, but this had a lot more protections built in. It wouldn't be run out of here.ÿþþBut Manfred and his associates recognized the union's opposition to the information bank. ÿWe withdrew it to demonstrate our desire to remove issues that could be an impediment to an agreement,ÿ he said.þþThe clubs took other steps yesterday, making changes in their proposal on the amateur draft. They reduced the number of draft rounds from 40 to 38 and they made other changes dealing with eligibility for the draft and standard benefits available to drafted players.þþÿWe then reminded them, that going back to June 11, we had made new proposals on revenue sharing and the luxury tax and now on the draft to demonstrate to them we wanted to get things moving,ÿ Manfred said.þþLeft unsaid was the suggestion that the union had made no movement in its proposals in the same period. The union has agreed to the concept of a worldwide draft, adding international players to it, but the union's proposal differs from the clubs' plan. The union has proposed holding separate domestic and foreign drafts, calling for eight rounds each, for a total of 16.þþThe talks were recessed until after the All-Star Game, on July 9 in Milwaukee, with the next session tentatively scheduled for July 11.þþThe union's executive board was scheduled to meet in Chicago July 8 to discuss the status of the negotiations and the advisability of setting a strike date.þþ
Source: NY Times
