Representatives for the baseball owners and the players' union met Friday after taking Thursday off and Rob Manfred, the owners' top labor lawyer, told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark that the sides have made substantial progress on revenue sharing over the past 1½ weeks.

While the union's executive board is expected to have a conference call next week, sources told Stark that it is unlikely a strike date will be set during the call. The meeting is expected to be an update on the talks only.

The executive board is made up of player representatives of the 30 teams in the two leagues.

A source familiar with the thinking of the union told The New York Times the setting of a strike date could be delayed if negotiations with owners produces positive developments.

The Times also reported that the latest the union would wait to set a strike date is the week of Aug. 11. In fact, the report said, the union has tentatively reserved Aug. 12 for an in-person meeting in the event officials feel that a meeting is necessary.

In 1994, the executive board had a conference call on July 28 and set Aug. 12 as the strike date. But at that point the union was virtually certain no deal would emerge from the talks.