Major league spring training hasn't even begun, and already, it's the bottom of the ninth inning.
Who says baseball has a pace of play problem?
Of course, the "bottom of the ninth,'' reference isn't a reference to actual games, of which there are currently none being played. Instead, it's about the labor negotiations, which this week, enter critical mass stage.
Nearly three months into a lockout of the players, the two sides have agreed to meet every day this week, against the backdrop of a calendar that is quickly shrinking. Recently, the owners informed the Players Association that for the regular season to start on time -- March 31 -- an agreement needs to be in place by Feb. 28.
That, in turn, would give players all of next week to report to camps in Florida and Arizona and for close to four weeks of spring training to take place.
That both sides have committed to daily bargaining sessions this week suggests that time is of the essence. The notion that they will meet day after day represents an uptick in urgency far different than has existed for the past few months. Since Dec. 2, representatives of owners and players have met for a grand total of five times on the substantive economic issues.
Worse, those handful of meetings have been far from productive. Essentially, the sides have agreed on three items: a universal DH; the removal of direct draft pick compensation for signing free agents; and some form of a draft lottery, the details of which still must be determined.
That's not a lot of progress, obviously. And there's a lot of issues to work through in the next five days to get to an agreement.
The players are focused on a handful of issues: funneling more money to younger players with zero to three years of major league service time; removing obstacles to payroll spending by raising the CBT thresholds and lowering the tax rate; and eliminating the "tanking'' model so that more teams are interested in competing every season.
The owners, having reversed decades of losing at the bargaining table long enough to emerge victorious from the last rounding of bargaining in 2016, are intent on not giving back the gains they've made.
One new dynamic for this week's sessions is the presence of several owners in the talks, including Red Sox principal owner John Henry. Henry is part of the owners' Labor Policy Committee and is seen as something of a dove on labor issues -- more interested in getting a deal in place than keeping the owners' boot on the union's neck. (For that role, the owners still have Dick Monfort, chairman of the committee and a known hard-liner when it comes to dealing with the union).
Can Henry insert a more moderate voice into the talks? While Monfort and others want to win the negotiations for small-market teams, Henry represents the concerns of big-market teams who, for the most part, are OK with the status quo and are more interested in getting the game back on the field than they are in crippling the union.
In the past, there's been a sharp division among big- and small-market owners when it comes to labor, and the union has exploited that gulf in past collective bargaining agreements. To date, the owners have been more unified -- publicly, at least -- but with time running out to start the season on time, perhaps more conciliatory voices will start to be heard.
There's a general consensus that if significant progress isn't made this week, the lockout could linger for some time. Some hardline owners may feel that missing parts -- or the entirety -- of the April schedule would represent a minimal loss. After the pageantry of Opening Days, many teams face sharp downturns in attendance, thanks to inclement weather in many Northeast and Midwest cities, especially with kids still in school. Some hardliners might not mind sacrificing a dozen or so April home dates if it means digging in on some economic issues that could benefit them over the life of a five-year agreement.
As for the players, they, too, have remained resolute -- to date. There's been no word of dissent in the ranks. Then again, players haven't missed any paychecks - they earn only living expenses and a per diem during spring training. If Opening Day is threatened, resulting in the loss of regular season paychecks, might that change?
Both sides have publicly maintained that a delay to the start of the season would be an unfortunate consequence. But do they comprehend how poorly an ongoing lockout would reflect on them?
For the most part, neither players nor owners are terribly occupied by the disastrous PR they'd be faced with if the season is delayed. They're primarily idealogues, intent on winning for their side, and any negative fallout from the public can be addressed after the fact.
But already, the narrative has been formed. Even though this is the first baseball work stoppage after 26 years of uninterrupted labor peace, the perception remains: baseball can't get its act together again.
At a time when the game has seen a decline in national TV ratings and a downturn in attendance, its fight for relevance among the other major sports leagues has never been more real.
It's unlikely that the sides can be shamed into getting a deal done this week. Were that the case, it would have already been finalized.
But since both sides tend to operate in their own self-interest, the hope is that the arrival of an unofficial deadline can convince owners and players alike that an agreement is good for them. And, if it happens to benefit the other side, too, that's perfectly acceptable.