PLAYERS YIELD ON TOUGHER DRUG TESTING AS TALKS PROCEED

NEW YORK - Baseball players said the union agreed to a drug-testing
deal Tuesday, and commissioner Bud Selig planned to join the talks and
teams began pushing back flights to prepare for a strike.

The sides met three times Tuesday, holding two-on-two discussions
instead of trading formal proposals among the full negotiating committees.

"The drug testing is a done deal," Los Angeles Dodgers player
representative Paul Lo Duca said. "We agreed on that, and that's
great. They're getting closer and closer."

Rob Manfred, management's top labor lawyer, wouldn't say whether
owners agreed to the testing plan.

"We made progress on the drug issue," he said. "Right now, I'm not
confirming or denying any agreements, proposals or potential
agreements."

While there were upbeat assessments two days before the scheduled
walkout, some teams made strike preparations.

The Chicago White Sox called off their Thursday charter to Detroit and
said they would travel Friday only if there isn't a walkout. Boston
rescheduled its charter to Cleveland for Friday, too, but St. Louis
will travel Thursday for the following day's game at the Chicago Cubs,
which would be the first game affected by a strike.

Selig didn't know when the last moment would be for a settlement that
would enable the schedule to remain uninterrupted.

"The closer you get to the date, it's tougher," he said from his home
in Milwaukee.

Negotiators met briefly Tuesday morning, and players held a telephone
conference call with the union staff. The sides, trying to avert
baseball's ninth work stoppage since 1972, held a lengthy session in
the afternoon and met late at night for about 45 minutes before recessing.

"They're trying to get the structure figured out as much as they can
without making formal proposals back and forth and eliminating some of
the unneeded red tape in the middle," said Arizona's Rick Helling, a
member of the union's executive board. "It's more just informal talks
to see if they can find a common ground."

Lo Duca said the drug agreement included a penalty phase for positive
tests, and help would be available for players who have problems.

"They're going to have the random testing for steroids, marijuana and
cocaine," Lo Duca said. "What they agreed on was once in spring
training, and then random tests during the year, which I think is very
good. Once you put the word 'random' in there, you don't know when
it's going to happen, so I think it's going to keep guys off and I
think that's good for the game."

Brandon Inge, Detroit's assistant player representative, said players
agreed to random drug testing for two years. If 5 percent or more of
those tests come back positive in either year, mandatory testing would
be required for all players.

"We're willing to do whatever they want with that," he
said.

Atlanta's Tom Glavine, the NL player representative, thought the sides
were headed to a deal that would avert baseball's ninth work stoppage
since 1972.

"I think there are still going to be some ups and downs between now
and Thursday," he said, "but ultimately I'm optimistic that we're
going to get something done."

Some still expect a walkout.

"I plan on striking Friday," Red Sox pitcher John Burkett said. "I
think it's going to be long. I'm just going by my experience in '94."

The tone of the meetings was far more serious than in earlier days,
several people on both sides of the negotiations said on condition of
anonymity. Manfred and Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer,
were at the sessions along with Steve Fehr, the brother of the union
leader, and Michael Weiner, the union's No. 3 official.

Manfred said no new proposals have been made since
Sunday.

"We did, however, have conceptual discussions aimed at resolving the
differences between us," he said, adding: "We have time to make an
agreement."

Owners and players disagreed on how much to increase revenue sharing
and on the level of a luxury tax on high-payroll teams that would slow
salary increases.

Tuesday morning's session, according to a general manager who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, touched on the union's desire not to have
a luxury tax in the final year of the proposed contract, which would
run through the 2006 season.

"A deal, if both sides wanted, could be done in a day. That's how
close we are at this point," Inge said.