The MLBPA has rejected the MLB owners off of mediation

The Major League Baseball Players Association declined the MLB owners’ offer to undergo mediation Friday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports. The owners offered mediation Thursday, knowing well that the MLBPA would turn it down. This offer came two days after the owners were supposed to make a counteroffer to the MLBPA but decided not to. The public relations battle has now begun. The owners will now claim that they offered mediation, but the players are being unreasonable in not accepting it. The MLBPA will claim the owners aren’t negotiating in good faith and if the owners want to have spring training start on time, all they have to do is end the lockout, and players will begin to report to their spring training sites in about 10 days.

This is an ominous sign and likely signals that any chance for spring training to start on time has declined significantly. The start of the regular season on March 31 is also in doubt. While some progress has been made during negotiations, it has been minute at best.

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