With the possible announcement of a strike date Monday, the two sides were able to make significant progress on the framing of a drug testing policy, while continuing to discuss the worldwide draft, revenue sharing and the luxury tax, according to management's labor lawyer Rob Manfred.

A union official declined to comment on the specifics or the tenor of the negotiations, or if a strike date will definitely be set Monday, as the union's executive board meets in Chicago.

"If we don't make a deal by Monday, then we will probably be forced to act, but it's not inevitable,'' Arizona player representative Craig Counsell told The Associated Press.

Whether the union board sets a strike date or not Monday, Manfred will still try to help hammer out an agreement between the two sides and avoid a strike.

"I've come here every day for the last 30 days with only one thing on my mind and that's reaching an agreement," Manfred said. "If they set a strike date on Monday, you can take it to the bank that I'm going to be here at 7:15 Tuesday morning with one thing on my mind and that's going to be reaching an agreement.

"The next 48 hours are important," Manfred said. "Crucial is too much from my perspective."

On Friday, management countered the union's proposal, with a plan that would have specific penalties for those testing positive for steroids. The proposal also includes monitoring of both nutritional supplements, such as androstenedione, as well as illegal drugs, Manfred said on Friday's conference call.

Under the union drug-testing proposal, which was presented on Wednesday, players would have to be subjected to one or more random steroid tests next season and in 2004. If more than 5 percent of players tested positive in either year, all players would be subjected to random tests in 2005 and 2006. The union proposal does not include testing for nutritional supplements and illegal drugs.

While Manfred would not say if management's proposal included a testing period, he did say that there were differences in the way each side wished to penalize offenders.

"Their proposal contemplates that there would be discipline, but instead of saying for third time that you test positive for a particular steroid, you get 20 days, you can impose discipline and the discipline must be consistent with the just cause standard," Manfred said.

Both sides had extensive discussions on the worldwide draft Friday. On June 27, management reduced their proposal on the worldwide draft from its current 50 rounds to 38 rounds. The union proposed one draft of 16 rounds.

"If we could get the core issues (revenue sharing and the luxury tax) out of the way, the draft would not be an impediment to reaching an agreement in the very near term," Manfred said.

Both sides intend to continue talks through the weekend.

"We will go through all the options with the player, and the players will decide what they need to do,'' Union head Donald Fehr said to The Associated Press.

"I remain cautiously optimistic about our ability to reach an agreement in the near future," Manfred said.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.