Report: MLB, MLBPA plan to meet Thursday

So it begins.

Major League Baseball and the players' union plan to hold a bargaining session Thursday, sources told Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The league is expected to present the MLBPA with its first core economic proposal since locking the players out Dec. 2, when the previous collective bargaining agreement expired. It'll be held via video, The Athletic's Evan Drellich adds.

This meeting will also mark the first substantive conversation between the two sides since the beginning of the lockout 40 days ago.

The owners instituted a lockout at the beginning of December, ending a 26-year stint of labor peace. It also halted a free-agent period that saw clubs combine to spend more than $1 billion, headlined by Corey Seager's $325-million deal with the Texas Rangers. Five other players - Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, Max Scherzer, Robbie Ray, and Kevin Gausman - also secured nine-figure deals.

Pitchers and catchers typically begin reporting to spring-training camp in mid-February. However, that would be in jeopardy if a new CBA isn't ratified by then.