"I've made recommendations before, but certainly not like the situation we're in here now," Usery said. "Look, everybody needs a settlement -- the players, the owners, the fans, everybody. I expect to be here over the weekend. Long hours, too."
The union spent at least part of yesterday preparing a counteroffer to the comprehensive proposal that was presented by the owners on Wednesday -- the first time the owners did not include a salary cap. The counteroffer is expected to be presented today.
General managers Sandy Alderson and Dave Dombrowski, both members of baseball's operations committee, arrived in Washington yesterday to join the negotiations. So did longtime ownership attorney John Westhoff, who would be involved in drafting any final agreement. But the union contingent got smaller, as some players left town to avoid the bad weather.
In a related development, the union canceled Monday's meeting with managers, coaches and trainers in Dallas. Usery requested that the meeting be canceled so that the negotiations would not be interrupted.
