MLB season to be shortened if no labour agreement is reached by end of Feb. 28

Major League Baseball said only five days remain to salvage March 31 openers and a full season, telling locked out players that games would be cancelled if a labour contract is not agreed to by the end of Monday.

"A deadline is a deadline. Missed games are missed games. Salary will not be paid for those games," an MLB spokesman said after Wednesday's bargaining ended. The spokesman spoke on behalf of MLB on the condition the spokesman not be identified by name.

Players have not accepted Monday as a deadline and have suggested any missed games could be made up as part of doubleheaders, a method MLB said it will not agree to.

The union told MLB that if games are missed and salaries are lost, clubs should not expect players to agree to management's proposals to expand the postseason and to allow advertisements on uniforms and helmets.

Bargaining is scheduled to continue Thursday, and both sides said they are prepared to meet through Monday.

Five days before the deadline MLB says will postpone regular-season games, here's the gap between the sides in their latest proposals:<br><br>CBT: $31M<br>Pre-arb bonus pool: $95M<br>Minimum salary: $135K/player<br>Draft lottery: 3 picks<br><br>That's a lot to cover in less than a week. Like, a lot.

A shortened season would be baseball's second in three years following a 2020 schedule cut from 162 games to 60 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The last seasons truncated by labour strife were during the strike that ended the 1994 schedule on Aug. 12 and caused the start of the following season to be delayed from April 2 to April 25. The 1995 schedule was cut from 162 games to 144.

Players are paid only during the regular season, accruing 1/162nd of their salary daily. Players would be