Los Angeles (AFP) - Major League Baseball has cancelled more pre-season exhibition games, a sign that the start of the regular season could be further delayed as contract negotiations with players drag on.
Opening Day of the regular season, originally scheduled for March 31, has already been pushed back.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday that failure of the two sides to reach agreement on a series of economic issues left the league with no choice but to cancel the first two series of regular-season games.
The cancellation of pre-season games at least through March 17 could have a knock-on effect leading to more regular-season cancellations.
Manfred has said that a four-week exhibition season is needed to guard against player injuries.
Some players, however, have indicated that a three-week pre-season would be sufficient to prepare.
Spring Training was shortened to three weeks before the lockout-impacted 1990 season, strike-delayed 1995 season and pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Players and owners departed Jupiter, Florida, on Tuesday after nine days of talks that failed to end the stalemate.
Owners had locked out players on December 2 after the expiration of the previous collective bargaining agreement, saying the action would increase the sense of urgency in negotiations.
However, the players' union chief negotiator Bruce Meyer said Tuesday there remained "major issues on which we were very far apart."
That includes the competitive balance tax -- which is MLB's de facto salary cap, and salary levels for young players who are not yet eligible for salary arbitration.
