NBAPA head Billy Hunter had this to say about this latest meetings, “I wouldn’t say there was any progress. What happened was, they put some concepts up, we put some concepts up, and we’re still miles apart. There’s a huge bridge, gap, that I don’t know if we’re going to be able to close it or not.” With no progress being made on the money side and little progress being made on salary cap issues, there is not much reason for optimism. Despite the lack of progress the two side will meet again today.

Avoiding arbitration in baseball

Signing first or second year players to long term contracts can be a gamble for both the club and the player. However, the upside for the club is that arbitration is avoided and the team has a better feel for the club's salary structure over the course of the next few seasons. The player can benefit by getting more money early in his career with the long term deal. The following piece gives a good illustration of this type of thinking.