Brew Crew Ball News Roundup - March 2, 2022

Yesterday, the scenario we were hoping to avoid happened. After negotiations stalled and a deal could not be reached, Rob Manfred and the MLB owners officially cancelled the first two series of games for the 2022 regular season. The two sides have returned home and they do plan to continue to negotiate, but a timeline at this point is incredibly murky. The delay to the season could be short, or a significant chunk of the season could be at risk, if not the whole season altogether.

Let’s take a look at some of the news that came out about the lockout:

• Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors notes that the MLB owners added new terms to the CBA that the players side did not see until near the end of the negotiations. Some of the new terms included more changes to the luxury tax and addition of new rules including defensive shift limits and a pitch clock. He also notes that the players did not feel the same optimism that MLB was trying to push in regards to a possible deal before the deadline.
• If you’re looking for a breakdown of what the two sides are looking for, Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors has a concise breakdown of the main issues in negotiations and where each side is at.
• With a team that could compete for a World Series title here, the lockout becomes even more frustrating in Milwaukee. Will Sammon of The Athletic writes exactly how a lockout hurts the Brewers, even if a season comes together. With a pitching staff that needs time to get into playing shape and a new set of hitting coaches that haven’t had a chance to work with the offense yet. In addition, with many other teams in the state also in the middle of strong periods (Packers, Bucks, Badgers, Golden Eagles, etc.), the pull to get fans back to the Brewers will be even more difficult, though many will return.
• Ken Rosenthal has been one of the biggest critics of the owners in the lockouts, and after the cancellation of games, he wrote about how the owners have every advantage and still want more. While the players take a little of the blame here, the owners want as much as they can get and are willing to wait out the players to get it.
• Jeff Passan of ESPN also added on to the harsh criticism of the owners, writing that this is a self-inflicted crisis in the sport. He also wrote about how to salvage the season, saying both sides need to listen and come up with something before both sides dig in even further.
• Mike Axisa of CBS Sports gives five takeaways from the CBA negotiations, from the simple fact of losing games to how MLB is trying to control the negotiations.
• One key difference to this work stoppage over what happened in 1994 is that the players have a bigger voice this time. Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletics writes that players have a better way to direct perception around the lockout as they can voice their own opinions over social media. In the past, MLB and the owners were able to issue most of the statements to the media, but now players can issue their own statements that can be heard by millions near instantly.
• For a quick look at some of those statements from the players, Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports has a roundup of tweets from players about the negotiations and the lockout, as they blasted owners for what is currently going on.