Major League Baseball negotiations to end the lockout are extending to the limit.
Management says a deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association must be reached by the end of Monday’s negotiations to salvage a March 31 start to the regular season and a 162-game schedule.
With that in mind, the sides are scheduled to meet starting at 10 a.m., three hours earlier than usual.
Max Scherzer and Andrew Miller are leading the players’ bargaining team for the final day of negotiations.
This will be the eighth straight day of talks at Roger Dean Stadium, the vacant spring training home of the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.
The lockout is in its 89th day, and players would lose $20.5 million in salary for each day of the season that is canceled.
MLB has not fixed an exact time to the deadline, which leads to the possibility of bargaining sessions stretching into the wee hours if both sides see a deal within reach.
The lockout has already delayed spring training workouts, scheduled to start in mid-February, and forced cancellation the first week of spring training games through March 4.
