Spring training threatened, MLB asks for federal mediator

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Major League Baseball asked a federal mediator to intervene in stalled labor negotiations that likely will put off the start of spring training.

On the 64th day of a lockout, MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem asked Thursday for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to enter the dispute.

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The players' association must agree for the conciliation service to enter talks. The union declined to comment, and its lawyers were expected to consult with players.

There was little movement in the last negotiating session on Tuesday, leaving almost no hope spring training workouts will start as scheduled on Feb. 16. Baseball's ninth work stoppage, its first since 1995, will soon threaten opening day on March 31.

Players made a new proposal with small changes Tuesday during the first negotiating session in a week, and management has not responded.

The federal mediation service entered the 1981 talks, and mediator Kenneth Moffett helped reach a deal that ended a midseason strike after 50 days, a stoppage that resulted in 713 canceled games.

"It is done in a fishbowl," Moffett told The Associated Press in 1994. "Every statement, every press release — anything — is for public consumption. In most negotiations, you don’t hear a peep until there’s a settlement."

Major League Baseball deputy commissioner Dan Halem, center, arrives for a meeting in New York, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, for the first in-person baseball negotiating session since the MLB lockout began. At far left is Patrick Houlihan, Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Labor Relations at Major League Baseball, and second