Tony Clark is stepping down, and it comes with a twist no one saw coming.
Clark resigned as executive director of the MLB Players Association on Tuesday after spending the past 12 years in the role.
But it wasn’t the federal investigation by the Eastern District of New York that brought his reign to an end; instead, according to The Post’s Joel Sherman, it was an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who worked for the MLBPA.
Clark’s demise comes at a pivotal time for the players union as it enters the final year of its collective bargaining agreement with Major League Baseball. Baseball owners are widely expected to lock the players out after the 2026 season.
The discovery came amid an internal probe that unearthed messages and the union employee, The Athletic reported. Clark was made aware of the findings on Friday, and the players were informed over the weekend, which led to the push to have him resign.
Tony Clark (l.) and his wife, Frances (r.) Getty Images for TAO Group
The EDNY was looking into allegations that Clark and the MLBPA had misused funds from a licensing agreement.
Initial reports surrounding Clark’s resignation on Tuesday morning indicated it was tied to the federal probe, which has expanded into prosecutors looking at allegations of obstruction, ESPN reported.
Former NFLPA lawyer Heather McPhee alleged that Clark and former NFL players union boss Lloyd Howell had conducted “a pressure campaign to shut down a thorough review” of a bonus plan that gave millions to OneTeam executive board members. OneTeam is the licensing company co-owned by the MLBPA and Players Way, and part of what is being probed by the Eastern District.
Questions arose from Players Way spending close to $10 million while only holding a few lightly attended live events, with the expenditure being significantly higher than the $3.9 million that the MLBPA told ESPN in a report last year.
The MLBPA hired outside counsel in the wake of the federal probe into Clark, and the lawyer retained by the players, Adam Braverman, has kept the eight-man executive subcommittee up to date on the investigation and the potential legal issues.
Tony Clark’s sister-in-law was hired by the union in 2023. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Neither Clark nor the MLBPA has made any public statements following the news of the now-former executive director’s departure becoming public.
All of this comes with an even bigger battle on the horizon with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1 and many anticipating a lockout.
“The timing of when the investigation may be over is still unknown. But the timing of when the CBA expires is known. It’s in December,” Mets infielder and subcommittee member Marcus Semien told reporters in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday. “So it’s a fluid situation, but we also don’t know what may come out and when. Things happening now, it’s better than if it happened right before December if anything came out.”
Union leadership met Tuesday afternoon but did not vote on any interim replacement for Clark, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported. The hope is for a vote to be held Wednesday to put someone in place.
Bruce Meyer, the MLBPA deputy executive director, is believed to be one of the candidates to take over for Clark, according to ESPN, and subcommittee member and Angels pitcher Brent Suter said that there would be an interim executive director put in place.
“Let me tell you, the ship is strong,” Suter told reporters about the state of the MLBPA, per The Athletic. “We just need to make the right decisions today and moving forward, and we’ll be just fine.”
Clark joined the union in 2010 after ending his 15-year playing career and went to work in player relations. He eventually became deputy executive director and was then voted into the executive director role by the players in 2013 after the death of Michael Weiner.
Meyer became involved with the MLBPA in 2018.
“I don’t think it has any impact on negotiating,” Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal said Tuesday, according to The Athletic. “Bruce has been our lead negotiator. He’s done it in the past. Although Tony has been the face of the PA in terms of negotiating, I’m still as confident as ever in Bruce and everyone else that we’ve got behind him.”