What MLB requesting mediation — and the MLBPA turning it down — means for baseball’s lockout

With the MLB lockout started by owners on Dec. 2 now in its third month, Major League Baseball requested the help of federal mediation Thursday, which would have potentially inserted a neutral third party in negotiations. The MLB Players Association responded by declining the request, stating that “the clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table.”

Where does the attempt at mediation leave negotiations? Could this create even more hostility between the two sides? And what does it all mean for the big question: When will we actually see Major League Baseball players on the field? We enlisted ESPN MLB experts Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers to sort it all out.

The league reached out to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Thursday. What does that mean?

A mediator is a neutral third party whose goal is to help two sides in a labor dispute reach common ground on issues that are preventing a deal being reached. The FMCS is the governmental arm that can help manage labor disputes like MLB’s lockout, but necessitates both parties agree to mediation. A mediator’s job is not to negotiate a deal or impose any specific conditions. Mediators are not arbitrators, who hear each side of an argument and deliver a ruling. The most effective mediation helps guide two parties to places they have not been able to get themselves.

Has this happened before?

It happens quite often in labor disputes. MLB used a mediator during its 1981 and 1994 strikes. In 1981, the mediator, Ken Moffett, worked with both parties during the 50-day strike — and wound up being named executive director of the MLB Players Association before being fired less than a year later. During the 1994 strike that wiped out the World Series,…