Major League Baseball has offered to drop its proposal for a pitch clock this year and also would go without one in 2019 if the average time of a nine-inning game drops to at least 2 hours, 55 minutes this season.

Speaking at the end of a quarterly owners meeting, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday owners had authorized him to implement management's proposal from last offseason, which calls for a 20-second pitch clock, if an agreement cannot be reached with the players' association. Management has proposed a deal that would phase in new pace-of-game rules over the next three seasons

Manfred says the next 10 days are important in negotiations. Training camps open in mid-February.

The union has resisted a pitch clock, which has been used at Triple-A and Double-A for three seasons.