Negotiators Begin to See Possibility of Settlement : Labor: Fehr says tentative agreements reached on some non-economic subjects, but cautions against optimism in baseball talks.

Although they have yet to discuss a specific payroll tax, another extensive round of negotiations here Tuesday left negotiators in the baseball labor dispute saying a settlement to the longest and costliest strike in sports history could be within reach.

A management negotiator, demanding anonymity, said, “It could happen this week or it could carry into the weekend or early next week.”

Owner Jerry McMorris of the Colorado Rockies, something of an eternal optimist during this seven-month siege, was even more specific.

“If we make good progress tomorrow, maybe we could settle tomorrow,” he said. “Otherwise, Thursday is an important day.”

McMorris later said that a settlement as soon as today is unlikely but he described Tuesday’s four-hour meeting at the Gainey Ranch golf club as the most positive and productive since the process began.

“We’re 200 days into a strike, the exhibition games are about to begin, everybody is feeling pressure on one hand,” he said. “But on the other, we have a window of opportunity (to reach a settlement that would still permit the season to open with regular players instead of replacements).”

Union head Donald Fehr acknowledged that the civility established during two days of procedural talks in Milwaukee last week has continued, but of the two days here he said, “I think people should be encouraged to the point the process is ongoing and people are paying attention to the calendar. I would be hesitant to go beyond that.”

Asked, however, how the 48 hours of the resumed talks are different from those of the previous seven months, he said:

“They’re different in two ways. There’s an appreciation that the calendar has advanced so far that if there isn’t some agreement reached fairly quickly it’s unavoidable that the 1995 season will be affected, and that’s had an effect on the way the discussions are being conducted. I don’t want to suggest everything is lovey-dovey. Far from it. But I would suggest that an effort has been made to avoid hostility for hostility’s sake.”

Fehr said that tentative agreements have even been reached on non-economic subjects involving the schedule, medical care and player assignment rules. He said the union also has a better understanding of the owners’ revenue-sharing formula, in particular, amid the ongoing discussion of how the key economic issues--payroll tax, arbitration, free agency and revenue sharing--interrelate.

The sides will discuss specific numbers today. The last owners’ proposal called for a payroll tax of 75% at $35 million and 100% at $42 million. The last union proposal called for a series of taxes--with a high of 25%--to be triggered at payroll levels few clubs reached in 1994.