SURPRISE, Ariz. — In the first public comments from the MLB Players Association since the shocking and sudden resignation of executive director Tony Clark and hours before he was unanimously elected as the union’s interim executive director, Bruce Meyer emphasized Wednesday that the unforeseen change in leadership will not impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations with MLB’s team owners.
“The Executive Board has been in discussions … to determine the future leadership of the union,” Meyer said. “But regardless, we have people on staff, including myself and others — former players, lawyers — who have been here for a long time. We don’t expect anything to change in terms of bargaining. We’ve been preparing for bargaining for years. Players have been preparing. Players know what’s coming.
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“At the end of the day, leadership is important, and leadership comes and goes, but what remains is the players,” he continued. “At the end of the day, it’s the players who determine the direction of the union.”
Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who had been in the executive director role since taking over for Michael Weiner in 2013, resigned Tuesday as a result of revelations that he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who also worked for the union. Clark was already the subject of a federal investigation involving potential financial misconduct related to business dealings tied to the union, and the relationship was uncovered as part of an internal inquiry into those matters.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Kansas City Royals’ spring training complex after the MLBPA met with Royals players as part of their annual tour of Cactus and Grapefruit League camps, Meyer emphasized how quickly the situation has developed and how player leadership responded.
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“The information that really led to this came out within the last 72 hours or so. So this is not something that has been sat on,” he said. “When the information came out, the players on the subcommittee made their feelings known. And Tony, to his credit, he’s always been about players first. And Tony decided to take the action he did in the interest of the players.”
This chaotic sequence just days before spring training games begin has left the MLBPA in a perceived state of disarray, but Meyer insisted that these recent events do not meaningfully alter the union’s focus or mission entering the season.
“Anybody who is gonna assume that and act on that is really making a mistake,” he said. “I’m not going to say this is, you know, a great thing. This is unforeseen. … I’m not going to say this is like a nothing and that there’s not going to be some disruptions. But again, at the end of the day, bargaining is the most important thing. It’s always been the most important thing. Our team that’s been preparing for that for years remains in place. Players have been getting educated on the issues that are going to come up for years. And so it’s not going to affect it in any respect.”
With Clark’s resignation, the members of the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee — Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Brent Suter, Pete Fairbanks and Cedric Mullins — became the leading figures in the pivotal task of identifying an interim executive director entering the final year of the current CBA.
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“We’re all fairly devastated by things that happened in the last 48-72 hours,” Meyer said of Clark’s sudden departure. “… But I think that this was something that the players determined had to happen at this particular point in time. We’ll move forward and be strong as we always are.”
Meyer, the former deputy executive director, was considered the top candidate to succeed Clark, but he said repeatedly Wednesday morning that choosing the next executive director would be entirely up to the players, and it would take more than just the eight subcommittee members to determine a successor. Indeed, the 72 players on the union executive board voted later Wednesday to elect Meyer in an interim capacity.
“Major league bargaining agreement, that’s just the major leaguers. Minor league bargaining agreement, that’s just the minor leaguers,” Meyer said. “Something like this, which affects the leadership of the union — our executive committee consists of 72 members, 38 of whom are major leaguers, 34 of whom are minor leaguers — the entire executive board will be voting.”
With Meyer taking the reins, he will be tasked with navigating what is expected to be a highly contentious round of CBA negotiations. Meyer said he expects to maintain his role as lead negotiator, and as interim executive director, he will become a central figure in the upcoming labor battle, a surprising main character at a crucial crossroads in baseball history.
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Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Meyer made clear his confidence that the union remains in a strong position to take on the fight ahead.
“At the end of the day, our union is strong and always has been strong because of the solidarity of our members, of our players,” he said. “That is going to continue. As I’ve said in the past: Anybody who underestimates the strength and solidarity of the MLB Players Association does so at their peril.”
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