NEW YORK, NY (WSAU) — Major League Baseball owners and players are set to meet for the first time since a lockout began in early December.
The Associated Press reports that the two sides will meet to discuss “peripheral” issues on Thursday. It’ll be the first time the two sides have talked in nearly 45 days.
The two sides are deadlocked over issues such as service time, salary, and competitive balance. Players claim that baseball’s current structure incentivizes teams to lose, or “tank.”
The stakes are now heating up for both sides as the start of Spring Training draws closer. The first teams are scheduled to report to Arizona and Florida on February 16th, with games scheduled to start later in the month. Should the lockout extend past mid-February, the Spring Training schedule will likely be cut, though at this point there is still hope for Opening Day to go on as scheduled in late March.
This marks the first work stoppage for baseball since the 1994-’95 strike canceled the 1994 World Series
