MLB Facing Shortened Season If No Deal Reached By Next Week

It's deadline time for Major League Baseball and its lockout. Basically, another day of failed negotiations will lead to a shortened season.

“A deadline is a deadline. Missed games are missed games. Salary will not be paid for those games,” an MLB spokesman said Wednesday, via The Associated Press.

Basically, if MLB and the union can't reach an agreement by Monday, regular season games will be missed and the season will forever have an asterisk next to it -- assuming there is any season at all.

Of course, even that is now up for debate in this contest of Who's the Bigger Crybaby.

"Players have not accepted Monday as a deadline and have suggested any missed games could be made up as part of doubleheaders, a method MLB said it will not agree to," the AP reported.

On the bright side, both parties have agreed to meet all the way until Monday to try to get things settled. On the downside, you're talking about gobs of money and massive egos. Dollars and pride usually aren't ingredients for an agreement.

"The union told MLB if games are missed and salaries are lost, clubs should not expect players to agree to management’s proposals to expand the postseason and to allow advertisements on uniforms and helmets," the AP wrote.

So yeah. Buckle up. It could be a long shortened season.