Chances of on-time spring training start all but vanish

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 US 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.

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.

Players don't start accruing salaries until the regular season, scheduled to start on March 31, making it unlikely there will be great movement until mid- to late February at the earliest.

A minimum of three weeks of training and exhibition games are needed to start the season, with additional time beforehand for players to report to training camps and undergo COVID-19 protocols.

In a sign of the lack of progress, the players' association is making $5,000 stipends available to its members. The union had $178.5 million in cash, U.S. Treasury securities and investments on Dec. 31, 2020, according to its latest financial disclosure form filed with the U.S. Department of Labour.

Baseball's ninth work stoppage and first since 1995 started when the five-year collective bargaining agreement expired on Dec. 1.

Players are asking that salary arbitration eligibility be expanded to those with two years of service, its level from