NEW YORK -- Negotiators for baseball players and owners are meeting this week in Irving, Texas, in an attempt to reach agreement on a collective bargaining agreement to replace the five-year contract that expires Thursday. After eight work stoppages from 1972-95, baseball has had 21 years of labor peace.Some of the issues in negotiations:FREE AGENCY COMPENSATIONCompensation for the loss of free agents has been an issue since the free-agent era began in 1976. The statistical ranking system established in the 1981 strike settlement was scrapped in the current agreement that began with the 2012-13 offseason and replaced by qualifying offers: A team would be entitled to draft-pick compensation if a player left as a free agent after failing to accept a one-year contract for the average salary among the 125 highest-paid players ($17.2 million this year) and the signing club would lose a top pick. Five of 64 free agents who received qualifying offers accepted during the current agreement, and some less-than-premier free agents who received offers said their market was limited by teams not wanting to give up draft selections.INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR DRAFTCommissioner Rob Manfred has said restraints on contracts for international amateur players have not been as effective as management had hoped, and he is a proponent of an international draft that would cover residents outside the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The union has been resistant.CURRENT AMATEUR DRAFTTeams spent $234 million in the 2011 draft on amateurs residing in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The total dropped to $209 million in the first year of restraints, went up to $220 million the following year, then rose to $224 million in 2014, $249 million in 2015 and $268 million this year. The sides are negotiating the slot figures used to determine signing bonus pools and the penalties for exceeding pools. Some have expressed concern that the slot values early in the first round encourage a team not headed to the postseason to tank in the final weeks to get higher draft picks and a larger signing bonus pool.LUXURY TAXOne of the last items in the negotiations will be the luxury tax. The threshold for the tax has been $189 million for the past three years, and for the past four years, the rate has been 17.5 percent for the first time over the threshold, increasing to 30 percent for the second time in a row, 40 percent for the third and 50 percent for the fourth or subsequent. An increase to $200 million or more is likely, which should lead to greater spending by high-revenue teams currently at or above the threshold. The union and some teams would like the rate to reset for all teams in 2017.ROSTER SIZEThe sides have discussed an increase from 25 active to 26 from opening day through Aug. 31. In an effort to keep late-season rules closer to the ones used for most of the season, the active limit would decrease from 40 to 28 or 29 from Sept. 1 through the end of regular season.DRUG AGREEMENT AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCEManagement proposed changes that would make rules stricter in both the joint drug agreement of 2014 and the domestic violence agreement of 2015.SCHEDULE RULESConcerned about players getting run down, the sides discussed a possible extension of the season from 183 days to 187 days. That appears unlikely, but there probably will be more restrictions on the scheduling of night games on getaway days.PACE OF PLAYManagement would like to have pitch clocks, which have been used at Triple-A and Double-A for the past two seasons, and restrictions on trips to the mound. Players generally have resisted any changes to the natural flow of the game.MINIMUM SALARYExpect a rise in the minimum salary, which was $507,500 in the major leagues last season and $82,700 for a minor league player on a 40-man big league roster for at least a second season and $41,400 for a first.REVENUE SHARINGThe sides have discussed changes to the revenue-sharing rules, which included a market disqualification test that prevented both teams from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago from receiving any revenue-sharing money in 2016, along with Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Texas, Toronto and Washington.SALARY ARBITRATIONUnder the current agreement, the top 22 percent of players by service time of those with two or more years of major league service and less than three are eligible for arbitration, along with players with at least three years but less than six. Change in eligibility has not gotten much attention.SMOKELESS TOBACCOManagement has discussed a ban on the use of smokeless tobacco during games. The union has resisted, maintaining that using smokeless tobacco is legal and a matter of individual choice, but in the 2012-16 agreement the union did agree that players may not carry tobacco packages and tins in their back pockets when fans are permitted in the ballpark, and players may not use tobacco during pregame or postgame interviews, and at team functions. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. http://www.cheaprealmadridjerseys.com/ . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys China . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys Authentic . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Hondas motorsport chief Yusuke Hasegawa admits the manufacturer was not optimistic enough with the targets set for itself and McLaren going into 2016.Honda made a clear step forward this season after its difficult return in 2015, though McLaren still finished a distant sixth in the constructors championship. The manufacturer appeared to have rectified most of the reliability issues which plagued the 2015 campaign but only added 25 points this year, something Hasegawa puts down to a pessimistic outlook over the winter.?Of course we set a target, Hasegawa told F1i. But honestly speaking, the target we set wasnt big enough or good enough. So we werent optimistic enough with our target. I think the other teams were doing a very good job.Hasegawa suggests Honda inadvertently sacrificed some oof the potential performance gains this season by focusing so much on reliability.ddddddddddddWhen asked if Honda made the improvement it had hoped for over the winter ahead of the 2016 season, Hasegawa replied: From a reliability point of view, yes. But it wasnt true, actually.I thought in Barcelona that if we can complete the races then we would have a lot of chances to get points. But it wasnt the case, actually. So that is why it is obvious that we need to find more performance.Under the new 2017 regulations, the engine token system which has restricted the likes of Honda and Renault from rebounding from a slow start to the V6 turbo era is being scrapped. China NFL Hoodies Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Jerseys NFL China Discount NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys ' ' '