The sense of urgency must be coming soon, right? The lock-the-door, scream-and-shout-at-each-other-until-you-make-some-real-progress scenario? And then caucus until you get a deal done, even if it’s into the wee hours of morning?
Instead, we had a 15-minute negotiating session Thursday that didn’t appear to make any headway toward ending the 78-day (and counting) lockout that MLB owners imposed Dec. 2. This was the latest in a series of intermittent sessions — a grand total of six since the lockout began — that seem to have done little but make MLB and the union more entrenched in their respective positions, and both filled with more righteous indignation at the intransigence of the other side.
The stated goal of the lockout by commissioner Rob Manfred was twofold — to take away the option of an in-season strike by the players, and to give two sides enough time, and impetus, to hammer out an agreement that would save spring training and the season.
