Locked-out MLB players reject offer of federal mediation

NEW YORK — The start of spring training likely will be a casualty of Major League Baseball’s lockout, which will threaten Opening Day unless the drawnout talks lead to a deal in less than a month.

After a half-year of bickering over the sport’s economics, baseball’s warring factions couldn’t even agree on whether to have a mediator.

The Major League Baseball Players Association on Friday ruled out a third party intervening, one day after MLB asked for help from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

“Two months after implementing their lockout, and just two days after committing to players that a counterproposal would be made, the owners refused to make a counter, and instead requested mediation,” the union said in a statement.

“After consultation with our executive board, and taking into account a variety of factors, we have declined this request. The clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table. Players stand ready to negotiate.”

Owners locked out players on Dec. 2, immediately following the expiration of a 5-year collective bargaining agreement. There have been just three in-person negotiating sessions on core economics since, on Jan. 24-25 and this past Tuesday, plus a digital session on Jan. 13. The sides are still far apart.

“With camps scheduled to open in less than two weeks, it is time to get immediate assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to help us work through our differences and break the deadlock,” MLB said in a statement.

“It is clear the most productive path forward would be the involvement of an impartial third party to help bridge gaps and facilitate an agreement,” the league said. “It is hard to understand why a party that wants to make an agreement would reject mediation from the federal agency specifically tasked with resolving these disputes, including many successes in professional sports.”

No negotiating sessions are scheduled on the primary economic issues. The sides met three times this week on non-core topics.

“We don’t need mediation because what we are offering to MLB is fair for both sides,” tweeted pitcher Max Scherzer, who agreed to a $130 million, 3-year contract with the New York Mets on the day prior to the lockout.

“We want a system where threshold and penalties don’t function as caps, allows younger players to realize more of their market value, makes service time manipulation a thing of the past, and eliminate tanking as a winning strategy,” Scherzer wrote.

Players blame owners for the lockout. Commissioner Rob Manfred said his side was being proactive.