Players, owners working OT in CBA talks

IRVING, Texas — Major League Baseball’s players and owners worked late into the night on Tuesday to try to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, as a 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday deadline — which marks the expiration of the current CBA — loomed.

Both sides said they were optimistic a deal could be reached even though several significant issues remain unresolved.

Among them:

• Luxury-tax threshold • Draft-pick compensation tied to the signing of free agents • A proposed international draft • Roster sizes and days off • Changes in the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program • Pace-of-play initiatives

Unlike previous negotiations, when an agreement often hinged on one or two large issues, this one is about a myriad of cumulatively important but one by one less daunting ones.

While not one of the issues appears to be a deal breaker, enough of them remain on the table that Tuesday’s discussions did not result in a significant breakthrough, according to sources. However, there was enough progress that both sides seem to have faith in a deal getting done.

Owners offered to back off their proposal for an international draft — which was seen as a key issue — in an effort to jump-start negotiations, but that has not happened as of yet.

Around 50 players were present for the MLBPA meetings, which began Sunday and became a conduit to intensify negotiations. Several Latin American players were in attendance to voice their opposition to an international …

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