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MLB cancels spring training games through March 4, will meet with players every day next week

Spring training was to have started this week, and the exhibition schedule had been set to begin on Feb. 26.

A practice field at the Cincinnati Reds' spring training complex sits empty.
A practice field at the Cincinnati Reds' spring training complex sits empty.Read moreRoss D. Franklin / AP

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The first week of spring training games will be canceled, Major League Baseball announced Friday, but then anyone with a calendar and eight fingers saw that coming.

The notable part of MLB’s 121-word statement came at the end.

“On Monday, members of the owners’ bargaining committee will join an in-person meeting with the Players Association and remain every day next week to negotiate and work hard towards starting the season on time.”

MLB and the players have met only six times on core economics in 79 days since the owners directed commissioner Rob Manfred to lock out the players, including a session Thursday that lasted for 15 minutes. The league informed the union this week that a collective bargaining agreement must be finalized by Feb. 28 for an on-time start to the regular season on March 31.

Maybe a deadline will spur the negotiations. Perhaps the presence of some owners, and likely a few players, at the bargaining table will have a similar effect. Daily sessions should at least speed up the volleying of proposals.

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But the sides are far apart on most economic issues, including the competitive-balance (luxury) tax, minimum salary, arbitration eligibility, a pre-arbitration bonus pool, revenue sharing, and a draft lottery.

Pitchers and catchers were due to report to camps Tuesday, with spring training games slated to begin Feb. 26. The Phillies were scheduled to play the New York Yankees in Tampa, Fla., with their first home game the following day against the Minnesota Twins.

Instead, exhibition games won’t be played earlier than March 5.

MLB said all teams will provide full refunds to fans who purchased tickets to any spring training games that aren’t being played.

The Players Association released a statement in which it disputed MLB’s position that games “must” be postponed. The union noted that the owners could rescind the lockout, open camps with a collective bargaining agreement, while continuing to negotiate.

“Nothing requires the league to delay the start of spring training,” the MLBPA statement said, “much like nothing required the league’s decision to implement the lockout in the first place.”

Manfred said last weekend that spring training wouldn’t open until a new CBA is ratified. He also said the owners believe that a four-week spring training is necessary to prepare for the season.

The luxury tax is among the most contentious issues. MLB recently proposed a tax-threshold increase in the last three year of the five-year agreement to $216 million, $218 million, and $222 million from $214 million, $216 million, and $220 million. (The mark would remain at $214 million this year and next.) The players have sought a $245 million threshold this year. MLB’s proposal also included higher tax rates than in the existing agreement.

There’s a $100 million gap in the sides’ proposals for a bonus pool that would pay pre-arbitration (entry-level) players additional money for high-level performance. The sides are also between $145,000 and $160,000 apart on minumum salary for this season.

While the owners are pushing to expand the playoffs to 14 teams, the players have proposed a 12-team field. And although both sides have agreed to a draft lottery, they don’t agree on how many teams should be included.