Video above: Sausage vendor near Boston's Fenway Park feeling the bite of MLB lockout

Major League Baseball on Friday canceled spring training games through at least March 17 as negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union drag on.

On Tuesday, MLB postponed the March 31 Opening Day and canceled the first two series of regular-season games after a deal wasn't finalized.

A collective bargain agreement determines players' terms and conditions of employment. Players will not be paid for canceled games, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred noted.

The league indicated that it's prepared to continue negotiations while the union said that team owners are trying to crack the players' united front.

"We worked hard to avoid an outcome that's bad for our fans, bad for our players and bad for our clubs," Manfred told reporters earlier this week. "I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party."

The league had initially canceled all spring training games through March 7, and MLB's Opening Day was slated for March 31. The commissioner said games were canceled and not postponed because it is not feasible to reschedule interleague games.

The earliest spring training games could start is currently March 18.

The players' union on Tuesday criticized the league's decision to postpone Opening Day and the cancellation of regular reason games, saying in a statement that players — and fans — are "disgusted, but sadly not surprised."

"From the beginning of these negotiations, Players' objectives have been consistent — to promote competition, provide fair compensation for young Players, and to uphold the integrity of our market system," the union said. "Against the backdrop of growing revenues and record profits, we are seeking nothing more than a fair agreement."

The league locked out the players on Dec. 2, preventing them from using team facilities and keeping free agents from signing new contracts. The halt stems from disagreements over how to distribute an estimated $11 billion in annual revenue.

Owners say they have been battered by the decline of in-person attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have pushed to sign a new CBA similar to the most recent one.

Players, meanwhile, have seen their salaries decline in recent years, particularly for non-star players. The union has pushed to change the league's restrictive rules around free agency and cut down on financial penalties for teams that spend heavily.

JUPITER, Fla. —

Major League Baseball said only five days remain to salvage March 31 openers and a full season, telling locked out players that games would be canceled if a labor contract is not agreed to by the end of Monday.

After the third straight day of negotiations with little movement, MLB went public with what it had told the union on Feb. 12.

"A deadline is a deadline. Missed games are missed games. Salary will not be paid for those games," an MLB spokesman said after Wednesday's bargaining ended. The spokesman spoke on behalf of MLB on the condition the spokesman not be identified by name.

Players have not accepted Monday as a deadline and have suggested any missed games could be made up as part of doubleheaders, a method MLB said it will not agree to.

The union told MLB if games are missed and salaries are lost, clubs should not expect players to agree to management's proposals to expand the postseason and to allow advertisements on uniforms and helmets.

Bargaining is scheduled to continue Thursday, and both sides said they are prepared to meet through Monday.

A shortened season would be baseball's second in three years following a 2020 schedule cut from 162 games to 60 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The last seasons truncated by labor strife were during the strike that ended the 1994 schedule on Aug. 12 and caused the start of the following season to be delayed from April 2 to April 25. The 1995 schedule was reduced from 162 games to 144.

Players are paid only during the regular season, accruing 1/162nd of their salary daily. Players would be subject to losing as much as $232,975 daily in the case of Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, or as little as $3,441 for a player at a $640,000 minimum.

Baseball's work stoppage was in its 84th day, and the three sessions this week increased the total on core economic issues to just nine since the lockout began Dec. 2.

Spring training workouts had been scheduled to start on Feb. 16, and MLB already has canceled the first week of exhibitions, which were to begin Friday.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said on Feb. 10 a minimum of four weeks of training are needed before starting the season. A deal by Monday would allow that plus a few days for players to report to camps in Arizona and Florida.

Manfred has spoken publicly just once since the day the lockout began and union head Tony Clark not at all.

MLB's public statement was interpreted as a pressure tactic by the union, which was angered payrolls decreased during the expired five-year deal and an increased number of teams jettisoned higher-salaries veterans and transitioned to rebuilding mode.

"To get bears in the forest, you can't offer them bear traps," said Scott Boras, agent for five of eight players on the union's executive subcommittee.

A day after the union made only small moves in response to management's incremental proposal of a day earlier, MLB advanced only one change: Teams offered to increase the minimum salary from $570,500 to $640,000, up from their previous proposal of $630,000. The minimum would increase by an additional $10,000 each season during a five-year agreement. Clubs withdrew their proposal for a tiered minimum, which players opposed.

Players have asked for $775,000 in 2022 and additional $30,000 jumps in each succeeding season. The union evaluated MLB's proposal as adding $5 million annually.

There was no discussion Wednesday on the key issue of luxury tax thresholds and rates, but players voiced their concern over a lack of competition and the need for younger players to get higher salaries earlier in their careers.

The union proposed a $115 million pool of money that would go to 115 pre-arbitration players annually, while the clubs offered $20 million that would be distributed to 30.

Yankees pitchers Gerrit Cole and Zack Britton joined the talks, two of six members on hand from the executive subcommittee that supervises the negotiations. They were joined by Scherzer, free agent pitcher Andrew Miller, Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, and Houston catcher Jason Castro.

After meeting at the start of the day at Roger Dean Stadium, the vacant spring training home of the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, the sides caucused and then had a smaller group meeting that included Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem, Colorado CEO Dick Monfort, Scherzer and Miller.

Teams have told the union they will not decrease revenue sharing and will not add new methods for players to accrue service time, which the union said is needed to prevent teams from holding players back to delay free agency.

Clubs also are refusing to increase arbitration eligibility among players with at least two years of service and less than three, of which the top 22% by service time are eligible. The union wants it expanded to 75%.

CINCINNATI — The UC Bearcats football team released a statement Friday in solidarity with other sports teams and leagues protesting racial injustice.

In a statement posted to social media Friday, players said they "stand firm on the pillars of UC’s mission to enrich our university, city, state and global community."

"A melting pot of educated and engaged citizens, we cannot sit idly by as the direct plight and injustices of the Black community are routinely streamed, posted and publicized," the statement read. "Our hearts are heavy as we continue to process the most recent tragedies of Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and countless others."

Players also posted support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

"As student-athletes at the university, we stand in solidarity in the fight for racial equality and social justice," the statement continued. "We will continue to use our voices as advocates for positive change. This is bigger than us. This is bigger than sports.”

CINCINNATI — For the Bengals coaching staff, the anticipation for the upcoming season can be equated to that of a child waiting to see what Santa Claus brought.

“It’s like Christmas morning again,” said Bengals assistant head coach Darrin Simmons. “I know what’s in the wrapping, but I haven’t gotten to play with the toys yet.”

Training camp begins this week, in a year when the expectations are higher than in recent seasons.

“We need to do better; we know that,” team owner Mike Brown said. “We think we’re in position to do that. We look forward to doing better and getting the stadium looking the way at games that we think it should.”

He’s talking about packing Paul Brown Stadium with fans, which they are allowed to do this season with COVID-19-related attendance restrictions having been lifted.

“You just feel that excitement that you forgot that you missed,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “You didn’t forget, but you didn’t get to experience it. Now that it’s back, I know that our players are juiced up. Our fans, our coaches, everybody’s ready to get a full crowd out here and get after it.”

A full crowd at home would be the first of quarterback Joe Burrow’s pro career. Remarkably, Burrow is fully cleared to practice on day one of training camp — eight months after a serious knee injury.

"To be where he is now does not surprise me," offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. "It's almost unfairly expected just because we know how he works."

The Bengals are looking for their first winning season since 2015.

The team kicks off their 2021 campaign Sept. 12 at home against the Minnesota Vikings.