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MIAMI, March 1 (UPI) -- MLB team owners and players continue Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations and pushed back their original deadline to launch a 162-game season without cancellations to 5 p.m. EST Tuesday, a MLB spokesman told UPI. The parties convened Monday morning at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. They met in separate sessions throughout the day, totaling more than 12 hours of talks. The negotiations ended at 2:30 a.m. EST Tuesday without a deal in place.
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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said earlier this off-season that players need at least four weeks of Spring Training to prepare and regular-season games were set to be canceled if the parties hadn't reached a compromise by Monday.
The 2022 MLB regular set is set to start March 31.
The league began its first work stoppage in 26 years in December. Team owners opted for the work stoppage after they failed to complete a new labor agreement with the MLB Players' Association. Owners and player representatives continue to negotiate minimum salary structure, arbitration, revenue sharing and other issues.
Pitchers and catchers on 40-man rosters were scheduled to report in mid-February to their respective Spring Training sites in Arizona and Florida, with teammates arriving a few days later. Spring Training games were scheduled to start last Friday, but now won't begin until at least March 8.
Those 40-man roster players are barred from using their respective facilities and team resources amid the lockout. Many players continue to find creative ways to get together on their own to prepare for the 2022 season, but will start to lose money if the lockout results in canceled games.
The current lockout has lasted 90 days.
Players went on strike for 232 days in 1994-95, resulting in 948 canceled games, including the 1994 postseason.
The last lockout, enforced in 1990, lasted for 32 days and resulted in a one-week delay for Opening Day. No regular-season games were canceled due to that work stoppage.
