MLB postpones 1st week of spring training amid lockout

FILE - An official MLB baseball sits on top of an MLB game-used base with a lock and chain around it to represent the lockout between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).

Major League Baseball on Friday canceled the first week of spring training games through March 4 in the first public acknowledgement of the disruption caused by the lockout.The announcement came with the work stoppage in its 79th day, and a day after economic talks between the management and the Major League Baseball Players Association lasted just 15 minutes.Negotiators are set to resume talks on core economics on Monday, and MLB said members of the owners’ negotiating committee will attend the session, just the seventh on the central issues of the dispute since the lockout began Dec.

2.Spring training was to have started this week, and the exhibition schedule had been set to begin on Feb. 26. There were 16 games set for that day, including the World Series champion Atlanta Braves playing Boston in Florida and the Cleveland Guardians taking on Cincinnati in Arizona."We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of spring training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5," MLB said in a statement. "All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands."MLB told the union it thinks Feb.

28 is the last possible date to reach an agreement that would allow a timely start to the season. The union didn’t respond to MLB on whether it agrees with that date or thinks there is additional time.The players’ association was discussing whether any players will attend the next session.For the most part, owners.