MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Thursday losing regular season games due to the league-implemented lockout would be "disastrous."
"If I hadn't given consideration to what it would mean to miss games, I wouldn't be doing my job," Manfred told reporters. "Obviously I pay attention to that.
"I see missing games as a disastrous outcome for this industry. We're committed to making an agreement in an effort to avoid that."
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But Manfred sidestepped questions about whether he expects the season to start on time.
Manfred met the media at the quarterly owners meetings in Florida on Thursday, providing updates on the work stoppage that's in its third month.
Teams are scheduled to report to spring training next week, although a delay has been expected due to the lockout. Manfred told reporters, however, there's "no change" to spring training as of right now.
Manfred said the league will make a proposal to the union in the two sides' scheduled meeting on Saturday. It'll be their first meeting in over a week, when the union made an economic proposal. The league declined to counter, instead requesting federal mediation, which the union declined.
RELATED: Lockout timeline: Union declines MLB mediation request
Whether at least part of spring training is ultimately delayed, Manfred told reporters he expects it would take less than a week to open camps following a new labor agreement, adding camps would last four weeks, ideally.
MLB
That leaves less than two weeks to reach a labor deal, in that scenario, when accounting for the week needed to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement.
Opening Day is scheduled for March 31 and is jeopardized each day without a deal.