MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark is expected to announce his resignation imminently, per the Athletic.
The Athletic piece, under the byline of Evan Drellich, Ken Rosenthal and Andy McCullough, calls this a “stunning development,” and its hard to disagree. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of this year, and a change in union leadership at this late stage is not what one would expect.
There’s been talk for at least a year now that the owners will attempt to take a hard
line in negotiations in order to try to implement a salary cap or, at a minimum, put harsher penalties in place for teams with high payrolls. Of course, we have heard that in pretty much every run up to negotiations over a new CBA since the early 90s, and while the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers are the new boogeymen that owners are using to justify their stance, the players have been consistently united in opposing a salary cap. I know we all remember the drama in the 2022-23 offseason, when a lockout threatened to result in lost games, though a late deal and shuffling around of the schedule ended up allowing a full 162 to be played.
Clark has been the head of the MLBPA since 2013. Prior to that, he spent 15 years in the majors as a first baseman, primarily with the Tigers and the Diamondbacks.
