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Chances of on-time spring training start all but vanish

Bruce Meyer, chief negotiator, leads a players’ union bargaining team to negotiations at MLB offices Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in New York. General counsel Ian Penny is at rear left, deputy general counsel Matt Nussbaum at center right and assistant general counsel Jeff Perconte is at far right. Talks to end the Major League Baseball lockout resume after a one-week break as the scheduled start of spring training in mid-February nears. (AP Photo/Ron Blum)
Bruce Meyer, chief negotiator, leads a players’ union bargaining team to negotiations at MLB offices Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in New York. General counsel Ian Penny is at rear left, deputy general counsel Matt Nussbaum at center right and assistant general counsel Jeff Perconte is at far right. Talks to end the Major League Baseball lockout resume after a one-week break as the scheduled start of spring training in mid-February nears. (AP Photo/Ron Blum) Bruce Meyer, chief negotiator, leads a players’ union bargaining team to negotiations at MLB offices Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in New York. General counsel Ian Penny is at rear left, deputy general counsel Matt Nussbaum at center right and assistant general counsel Jeff Perconte is at far right. Talks to end the Major League Baseball lockout resume after a one-week break as the scheduled start of spring training in mid-February nears. (AP Photo/Ron Blum)

By Ronald Blum 3 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Whatever little chance there was of an on-time start to spring training all but vanished Tuesday during a contentious 90-minute negotiating session between locked out players and Major League Baseball.

Players made two slight moves during the first meeting in a week.

The union lowered its proposed pool of money for pre-arbitration-eligible players from $105 million to $100 million. The union also cut the number of players it wants credited with an additional year of major league service to the top 20 at each position in each league by WAR, or the top seven, depending on position, down from 30 and 10.

Players and owners did not attend the session Tuesday but participated by video.

A session on noneconomic issues is set for Wednesday and there is no date for the resumption of talks on the core matters, such as luxury tax thresholds. Owners are scheduled to meet from Feb. 8-10 in Orlando, Florida, making it less likely there could be negotiations over those days.