JUPITER, Fla. — Presented with a "final" and "best" offer from Major League Baseball's owners an hour before Tuesday's deadline of their creation, the union decided to reject it, bringing an end to nine consecutive day of negotiations and inviting commissioner Rob Manfred to delay opening day and begin canceling regular-season games.
Union officials took the proposal made at 3 p.m. St. Louis time to their player reps and, according to a source, they all agreed to reject it.
The lockout will persist. Opening day will soon be postponed, officially.
The union departed Roger Dean Stadium about 35 minutes before the deadline MLB had set for an agreement.