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Report: MLB, MLBPA plan to hold multiple bargaining sessions

Julio Aguilar / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Major League Baseball and the players' association intend to hold multiple bargaining sessions as early as Monday to iron out a new collective bargaining agreement in time to prevent a delayed season, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Numerous owners and players are expecting to fly in to participate in what could be daily meetings, Passan adds.

The league outlined a Feb. 28 deadline to have a new CBA in place to avoid delaying Opening Day, which is scheduled for March 31. It's unclear if the union agrees to this timetable, according to The Athletic's Evan Drellich.

Despite the seemingly acrimonious tone of negotiations to this point, it appears MLB might be willing to compromise on some key issues. The league is apparently flexible on its stance toward the competitive-balance tax as well as "getting younger players paid," Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith reports.

The union told the league that if the two sides are unable to reach an agreement in time and the 162-game schedule must be reduced, not to expect an expanded playoff format in 2022, sources told Nicholson-Smith.

This comes on the heels of the two sides holding a brief 15-minute meeting Thursday. MLB didn't find the talks productive and indicated it wouldn't move on the amount of time it takes a player to qualify for arbitration, according to Drellich.

It's been 78 days since the owners voted to lock out the players after the expiration of the old CBA on Dec. 1.

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