With Major League Baseball’s most vital marriage on the rocks, a third party will not parachute in to save the day.

The MLB Players Association announced Friday that it would not accept the owners’ request for an independent mediator via the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The action reverts the sides to direct bargaining — unless the owners declare an impasse, a possible yet unlikely tactic at this juncture — and further cements the reality that spring training will not start on Feb. 16 as scheduled.

“Two months after implementing their lockout, and just two days after committing to Players(CQ) that a counterproposal would be made, the owners refused to make a counter, and instead requested mediation,” the MLBPA said in a statement. “After consultation with our Executive Board, and taking into account a variety of factors, we have declined this request. The clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table. Players stand ready to negotiate.”

Mediation would have occurred only with both sides’ blessing, and even then, it wouldn’t have been binding. While the FMCS can boast of some impressive recent accomplishments in the sports world, including a role in ending the NHL lockout in 2013, its most recent foray into baseball, during the 1994-95 work stoppage, went disastrously.

The owners made the mediation request in the wake of an in-person bargaining session Tuesday, held at MLB’s Manhattan headquarters, that produced more tension than substantive progress; the players moved slightly on proposals concerning service-time manipulation and a bonus pool for pre-arbitration players. The owners’ frustration from that get-together compelled them to attempt the mediation route rather than counter with a new proposal.

Now — as an owners’ counter appears to be the most likely next step — with these talks moving at such a glacial pace it’s not too early to wonder whether the regular season can begin on March 31.