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The clock is ticking as baseball heads for a barrier

If a new deal is not reached by late Wednesday night, MLB owners could use a hammer right away: a lockout that freezes all transactions. If so, team leaders would not be allowed to speak to players, make major league engagements, or swing trades.

While lockouts have occurred in such cases in the four major North American professional men’s sports leagues, they are not a requirement. Should the MLB and the union make progress in their negotiations in the evenings, the owners could temporarily withhold a lockout.

On Tuesday morning, MLB officials and owners like Hal Steinbrenner of the Yankees, Mark Attanasio of the Milwaukee Brewers and John Henry of the Boston Red Sox emerged more than 30 minutes from a meeting where they heard a union proposal. They retired to their hotel to talk, but returned to the players’ hotel in the afternoon.

In a large conference room, union officials and a contingent of players (an estimated 60 were in town for union meetings) huddled with MLB officials and the owners for over 30 minutes.

Each side then broke off into their own conference rooms. At one point, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Andrew Miller, a top union representative, and Bruce Meyer, the union’s lead negotiator, went with Dick Monfort, owner of the Colorado Rockies and chairman of the league’s working committee, and Dan Halem, lead negotiator from MLB, of it.

After almost an hour, the groups separated. MLB officials and owners got into their cars to leave while the players returned to their rooms. What happens next is in their collective hands.

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