MLB's spring training schedule to start Feb. 19 — if there is labor peace

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball's spring training schedule will start Feb. 19 — if there is labor peace.

Major League Baseball said Friday that all 30 teams are scheduled to play exhibition games that day in Florida and Arizona as part of the lead-up to the season's start on March 24.

However, the sport's collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to impose a lockout that would freeze offseason trades and signings. MLB has proposed a salary cap for the first time since the 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95, and the players' association says it never will agree to a cap system.

Spring training workouts are scheduled to start Feb. 9.

In 2022, an agreement wasn’t reached until March 10, causing opening day to be pushed back from March 31 to April 7. Spring training games had been scheduled to start Feb. 25 and wound up beginning on March 17.

This year's exhibition schedule includes several matchups at regular-season ballparks from March 20-23, including Boston at San Francisco, Toronto and Detroit at Tampa Bay, and the Freeway Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels.

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