MLB players, teams talk into night, openers deadline nears

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Negotiators for locked-out players and owners held a series of short and more frequent meetings that stretched into the night Sunday as talks intensified a day ahead of Major League Baseball’s deadline to salvage March 31 openers. Teams and owners narrowed some differences Friday and Saturday. Entering the 88th day of the work stoppage they were still far apart on big issues that include luxury tax thresholds and rates, the size of the new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and minimum salaries.