(Reuters) – A meeting between Major League Baseball and its players association on Saturday lasted less than an hour and ended without any meaningful progress toward resolving the ongoing lockout, according to media reports.
The players have been locked out since early December and the March 31 start day for the 162-game regular season could be in jeopardy unless significant progress is made toward agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The players union came out of the meeting “unimpressed” by MLB’s latest offer and there was very little progress made between the two sides, ESPN reported.
Among the issues of the current dispute are owners and players not agreeing on service time toward free agency, playoff expansion, a luxury tax and possible salary floor, and several proposed rule changes.
The lockout is MLB’s first work stoppage since the players’ strike of 1994-95. That dispute forced a premature end to one season, delayed the start of the next year’s campaign and turned off fans, with attendances plummeting when play finally resumed.
Spring Training camps are scheduled to open next week in Arizona and Florida with exhibition games to start on Feb. 26.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, who had not addressed the lockout since the dispute began, said four weeks of workouts would be preferable.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
