Baseball’s labor talks, which seemed to be...

Baseball’s labor talks, which seemed to be producing modest progress over the last few months, may have gone the other way, when the players’ union presented an informal response to a management proposal of March 21. A management source described the union concept as a setback.

According to management, the union concept is based in part on a 30% tax on payrolls above $64 million in the middle two years of a six-year plan. In the most recent management proposal, owners suggested that a 40% tax on payrolls greater than $46 million start in the third year of a six-year plan, with the payroll threshold rising 7% a year over the final three years.