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Tony Clark, CEO of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), should be at the forefront of an intense labor battle this offseason with MLB. Instead, he is reportedly expected to resign.
Clark’s reported resignation comes as he and the union are under federal investigation by the Eastern District of New York for alleged financial irregularities. The 53-year-old was being investigated for using license money or equity to enrich himself, according to multiple reports.
Pakinomist Digital reached out to the MLBPA for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Tony Clark walks the black carpet at The Players Party 2025 hosted by MLBPA, Fanatics, Topps, & Lids at Flourish in Atlanta, Georgia on July 14, 2025. (Derek White/Getty Images for MLBPA, Fanatics, Topps & Lids)
Clark and the MLBPA were set to begin their annual tour of spring training camps on Tuesday, starting with the Cleveland Guardians, according to The Athletic. In the wake of the report, however, the meeting was cancelled.
Clark’s expected resignation comes just months away from CBA negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA.
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Major League Baseball Players Association CEO Tony Clark, right, and chief negotiator Bruce Meyer arrive for talks with the players union in an attempt to reach an agreement to save the March 31 home opener and a 162-game season at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, March 1, 2022. (Greg Lovett/USA TODAY NETWORK)
The owners are widely expected to lock out players at the start of the offseason and push hard for the implementation of a salary cap. If the owners do indeed go ahead with a lockout, it would be the second time in a row that the owners have locked out players at the end of the CBA.
In 2021, the sport was shut down for 99 days. Over the past four seasons, as spending by teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets has reached extraordinary levels, there has been a fervent push for a salary cap to be implemented, leading fans to wonder if a lockout would threaten the entire 2027 season.
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Major League Baseball Players Association CEO Tony Clark speaks to reporters at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida on March 5, 2025. (Evan Petzold/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Historically, the MLBPA has strongly opposed a salary cap.
In 1994, the Union’s refusal to waive the implementation of a cap caused the World Series to be canceled that season when the players went on strike mid-season.
The MLBPA has not yet named a replacement for Clark.
