The New York Yankees have selected catcher Austin Wells as their representative in the Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) \u2014 the baseball player’s union \u2014 after a major scandal rocked the organization. Wells is one of 38 player representatives, with each team appointing one player and eight additional players elected to an executive subcommittee. <\/p>\n
The player’s union faced a big shakeup this week after long time director Tony Clark resigned. The Athletic initially reported<\/a> Clark’s resignation, which comes after a federal investigation by the Eastern District of New York for allegedly mishandling union funds to enrich himself. <\/p>\n As a result of the federal probe, an internal investigation revealed<\/a> Clark was having an inappropriate relationship with a union employee who is also his sister-in-law and he was asked to step down. Questions have been popping up about how the MLBPA will handle contract negotiations, though ESPN’s Jeff Passan<\/a> reported that Bruce Meyer was unanimously selected as the interim executive director. The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires in December and became effective in March of 2022.<\/p>\n According to a post<\/a> by Yankees insider Gary Phillips on social media, Wells is undeterred by the scandal and believes the union can still reach a new CBA that benefits both the players and league,<\/p>\n “We\u2019re just as strong as we were Friday vs. today,\u201d Wells said. \u201cI think we have a lot of confidence in our executive subcommittee.”<\/p>\n Austin Wells will be handling union player rep responsibilities for the #Yankees<\/a>. The team discussed Tony Clark’s resignation this morning.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re just as strong as we were Friday vs. today,\u201d the catcher said. \u201cI think we have a lot of confidence in our executive subcommittee.”<\/p>\n