MLB Spring Training On-Time Start Not Looking Good
NEW YORK (AP) — Whatever little chance there was of an on-time start to spring training all but vanished Tuesday during a contentious 90-minute negotiating session between locked-out players and Major League Baseball.
Players made two slight moves during the first meeting in a week.
The union lowered its proposed pool of money for pre-arbitration-eligible players from $105 million to $100 million. The union also cut the number of players it wants credited with an additional year of major league service to the top 20 at each position in each league by WAR, or the top seven, depending on position, down from 30 and 10.
Players and owners did not attend the session Tuesday but participated by video.
A session on noneconomic issues is set for Wednesday and there is no date for the resumption of talks on the core matters, such as luxury tax thresholds. Owners are scheduled to meet from Feb. 8-10 in Orlando, Florida, making it less likely there could be negotiations over those days.
Given the lack of urgency in talks to end a work stoppage that began Dec. 2, both sides are behaving as if it is a foregone conclusion that spring training workouts will not start as scheduled on Feb. 16.
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