Tony Clark resigned as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association on Tuesday, less than 10 months before the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire.
Clark has reportedly been under federal investigation by the Eastern District of New York since last year for alleged financial improprieties. Additionally, ESPN reported on Tuesday that an internal MLBPA investigation revealed an inappropriate relationship between Clark and his sister-in-law, a union employee who was hired in 2023.
The MLBPA released the following statement:
“The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) announced today Tony Clark has resigned as executive director. Clark joined the MLBPA staff as director of player relations in 2010 and succeeded Michael Weiner as executive director in 2013. He was the first former player to serve in the role.
“The full executive board of Player representatives met this afternoon with MLBPA staff and outside counsel to discuss next steps; as always, the Players remain focused on their ongoing preparations for collective bargaining this year. The strength of this union is -- and will always be -- the solidarity of our membership. We have a long history of fighting for the rights of every Player, and we're committed to making sure we can continue that fight successfully.”
The MLBPA had been scheduled to begin its annual tour of Spring Training camps with the Guardians on Tuesday, but the meeting was canceled early Tuesday morning. The Athletic broke the news of Clark’s impending resignation a few hours later, and the MLBPA held a call with the union's player leadership later in the afternoon.
According to The Athletic, the union stopped short of naming an interim head after Tuesday afternoon's conference call, which included all 30 club player representatives along with the eight-player executive subcommittee. A second call is likely to take place on Wednesday, at which time the union could vote on appointing new leadership.
“I feel we have made mistakes in the past by making rushed decisions,” Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt, a member of the subcommittee, told The Athletic. “The executive subcommittee and all the reps agreed we want to get this right. We don’t want to get it done just because there’s a void.”
Clark’s resignation comes less than 10 months before the Dec. 1 expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Major League Baseball and the MLBPA are expected to begin bargaining talks in the coming weeks.