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Shakeup couldn’t come at a worse time for the MLBPA, which must lock horns with MLB owners over a potential salary cap.
Published Feb 17, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 2 minute read
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Tony Clark, outgoing director of the MLBPA. Photo by Richard Drew /The Associated PressArticle content
Tony Clark has resigned as head of the Major League Baseball Players Association.
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“The full executive board of player representatives met this afternoon with MLBPA staff and outside counsel to discuss next steps,” the union said in a statement reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday. “As always, the players remain focused on their ongoing preparations for collective bargaining this year.”
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Clark’s decision to step down comes at a turbulent time for himself and the union. An internal investigation discovered that the union leader had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who was hired by the MLBPA in 2023, the New York Post reported.
Investigation into union
Clark’s resignation also comes during an investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., into OneTeam Partners, a licensing company founded by the union, the NFL Players Association and RedBird Capital Partners in 2019. Federal prosecutors are looking into whether union executives “siphoned” funds for personal gain or improperly used union resources.
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“A lot of people have known that the investigation has been going on,” said the New York Mets’ Marcus Semien, a member of the union’s eight-man executive subcommittee. “I think that this happening during the investigation is not like, as a subcommittee, is not like overly surprising, but it still hurts and it’s still something I’m processing.”
The allegations
Clark, 53, and other union brass are alleged to have improperly given themselves equity in OneTeam Partners, and used funds to create roles for family members. Investigators are also probing allegations union money was used for non-business travel and to fund a youth baseball initiative called “Players Way.” The probe has now expanded to the NFLPA.
Questions arose from Players Way spending close to $10 million while only holding a few lightly attended live events, the Post reported, with the expenditure being significantly higher than the $3.9 million that the MLBPA told ESPN about in a report last year.
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Neither Clark nor the MLBPA have made any statements since his decision to step down became public.
Bigger battle on the way
The timing couldn’t be worse for the MLBPA, which must lock horns with Major League Baseball owners due to the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, 2026. The owners are reportedly looking for a salary cap following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ big-money spending for outfielder Kyle Tucker, and the Mets’ signing of former Toronto Blue Jay Bo Bichette. Owners could even be digging their heels in for a lockout in 2027.
The Athletic reported that a source said the four-year, $240-million deal for Tucker infuriated MLB’s other owners, and that they’ll be pushing for a salary cap come hell or high water. The Mets’ three-year, $126-million deal for Bichette “also raised dander,” the report said.
“The Dodgers and Mets might be the only teams that will try to stand in the way of a cap,” the source said.
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