{"id":578025,"date":"2026-02-17T19:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578025\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T19:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:56:20","slug":"chicago-cubs-white-sox-tout-unity-after-mlbpa-chiefs-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578025\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs, White Sox tout unity after MLBPA chief’s resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA and GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Chicago Cubs and White Sox players still were processing MLB Players Association leader Tony Clark\u2019s abrupt decision<\/a> to resign from his position Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Word started circulating among players when the news broke that Clark, 53, is stepping down less than 10 months before Major League Baseball\u2019s collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. Clark was scheduled to begin the MLBPA\u2019s annual spring meetings with each team\u2019s players Tuesday, starting with the Cleveland Guardians in the morning and the White Sox in the afternoon. However, the union canceled those plans. The meeting with the Cubs was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

A union call with all 30 player representatives and MLBPA executive board leadership was expected Tuesday afternoon. Second baseman Nico Hoerner, in his second season as the Cubs player rep, was unsure what the next steps would entail to replace Clark, the union\u2019s executive director since November 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think after we talk today we\u2019ll have a better sense of that,\u201d Hoerner said. \u201cIn general, our union is so strong through the strength in numbers and a lot of experience from the entire group, and our confidence is really high.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great part about our union is the unity of it. So that\u2019ll be a nice opportunity for everyone to get on the same page and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s resignation coincides with the U.S. Attorney in New York investigating One Team Partners, a licensing company founded in 2019 by the MLBPA, the NFL Players Association and RedBird Capital Partners. The federal investigation has been looking into financial impropriety, specifically whether MLBPA officials used licensing money or equity to improperly enrich themselves. Clark is one of three MLBPA officials on One Team Partners\u2019 leadership board<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll figure out when the details come out if that was the case,\u201d Cubs left fielder Ian Happ said of the investigation\u2019s role in Clark\u2019s resignation. \u201cRight now I don\u2019t have any information to speculate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happ, the Cubs\u2019 former union rep, found out about Clark\u2019s resignation when he saw a social media post reporting it Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that it\u2019s ideal,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I would say that for the most part the strength of the union is in the players, and the players ultimately are the ones that dictate the direction that any negotiation or any talk is going to go. And so that doesn\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n

White Sox pitcher Davis Martin recalled \u201cgreat conversations\u201d in the past with Clark.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe unified players really well,\u201d Martin said. \u201cPlayer unity is the strength of our union, and that\u2019s not changing with whoever is at the top of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin is part of a group effort representing the Sox in the union.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Outfielder) Austin Slater was our guy, and when Slater got traded (last year), (pitcher) Steven Wilson took over the role,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThen when Steven Wilson got traded (during the offseason), he passed it down to me, (pitcher Chris) Murphy and a couple of others, so we kind of shared the load a little bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is funny just the realization of how old I am getting and where we\u2019re at. Usually I wasn\u2019t anywhere near these conversations and now we\u2019re in the thick of it. It\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WhiteWhite Sox pitcher Davis Martin warms up with a football during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Like Martin, Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi still was digesting the news Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s important is that I think all the players are in unison, as we always have been,\u201d Benintendi said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be in discussions in the next day or two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unity was the theme in the Sox clubhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I\u2019ve been in the league and been a part of this, there\u2019s never been a question whether the players are together or not because it\u2019s a brotherhood,\u201d Benintendi said. \u201cThe connection for the players, the relationships we build with guys on other teams and through discussions, we\u2019re always going to be together no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those ties, Martin said, are built in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking guys who have played together, guys who have played against each other for years, all the way through the minor leagues, all the way through the major leagues,\u201d Martin said. \u201cYou get to play with guys and those relationships never change. I can call (former White Sox teammate and current Boston Red Sox pitcher) Garrett Crochet right now and we can have a conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnity across the board is our strength. It\u2019s always been our strength, and baseball players in a nutshell are always cut from similar cloth, regardless of country, origin, in general. That\u2019s our perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the timing of Clark\u2019s decision, Martin said, \u201cPlayer unity, we\u2019re in the same spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what we want, we know where we\u2019re at as a player organization across the board,\u201d he said. \u201cPlayer reps are going to meet today and get the next steps, and we\u2019re ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran Cubs right-hander and former union rep Jameson Taillon echoed the sentiment that the union\u2019s strength doesn\u2019t come from one person but rather the totality of the players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been about that,\u201d Taillon said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t know a ton, but I\u2019ll definitely harp on that, that going into a CBA year, it\u2019s all about the players and all about us communicating what we want and need. And I\u2019m confident we\u2019ll find someone good to lead us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taillon expressed confidence in the union\u2019s eight-player executive subcommittee, which includes Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job of beefing up the entire organization,\u201d Taillon said. \u201cSo obviously this is not ideal, but we\u2019ve got a lot of great people, a lot of smart guys, a lot of very involved players. And hopefully this kind of wakes up players to understand what\u2019s going on and why this is a big year and why this matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associated Press contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA and GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Chicago Cubs and White Sox players still were processing MLB Players Association leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[1000,5,138,24,49,2561,5285,36,5173,4,75772,11023,33,324,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-578025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-andrew-benintendi","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-cubs","12":"tag-chicago-white-sox","13":"tag-chicagowhitesox","14":"tag-davis-martin","15":"tag-ian-happ","16":"tag-jameson-taillon","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-mlb-labor","19":"tag-mlbpa","20":"tag-nico-hoerner","21":"tag-tony-clark","22":"tag-white-sox","23":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}