As noted on MMO, representatives from MLB and the MLB met on December 16 for the first time since the owners imposed an offseason lockout on December 1 when the owners and players were not able to come to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports that, as expected, the meeting on December 16 centered on non-economic issues, such as scheduling, grievance procedures, and drug/domestic violence policies. While any discussions between the two sides represent progress, the topics that are central to the impasse include arbitration, free agency eligibility, the Competitive Balance Tax, revenue sharing, and playoff expansion.

Negotiations are not expected to resume until January. MLB and its players remain far apart on all the economic issues, and it’s likely it will take a fair amount of time to come to resolution, end the lockout, resume the offseason transactions, and start spring training. February 1 is a good estimate for when the new CBA will need to be in place to ensure an on-time opening of camps in Arizona and Florida. If the lockout should persist beyond that point, the exhibition season will probably need to be shortened. If there is not agreement before March 1, the season will not be able to start on time, and there could be canceled games.

For the Mets, roster questions remain. Will they add additional starting pitching to deepen a rotation front-lined by Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer? Will they seek to trade Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, or J.D. Davis? There is a need for a left-handed deliver with the departure of Aaron Loup. Will that lefty be Andrew Chafin?

Several key free agents remain unsigned, including Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Michael Conforto. Where will these players call home in 2022?

These questions are on hold until baseball’s first labor dispute since 1994 comes to an end. If the lockout goes on much longer, the key questions may become “will we have a full season?” and “will there be a season?”.

We will continue to update on progress, or lack thereof, toward a new CBA.