Two years before Tony Clark\u2019s sudden resignation made Bruce Meyer the head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Meyer composed a letter to quiet the union members calling for his ouster.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone peddling \u2018easy fixes\u2019 should be treated with suspicion,\u201d Meyer wrote to the group in April of 2024.<\/p>\n
Meyer, a longtime labor attorney, faces a situation where the fixes remain far from easy. After Clark stepped down on Tuesday because an internal investigation unearthed an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, the union announced on Wednesday that Meyer will take over on an interim basis<\/a> entering a pivotal year for the future of the sport. With the collective bargaining agreement expiring in December, Meyer was positioned to lead the MLBPA in negotiations with commissioner Rob Manfred\u2019s office. Now he will be leading the entire union as well.<\/p>\n Since joining the MLBPA eight years ago, Meyer has developed a reputation for unwavering conviction and limited interpersonal charisma, according to interviews with players, agents, executives and staffers from both the commissioner\u2019s office and the union, many of whom requested anonymity in order to speak freely. He has impressed some within his coalition with his refusal to bend during negotiations with MLB officials during the 2020 Covid-19 season and during the lockout after the 2021 season. With Meyer at the negotiating table, the union made gains in the 2022-26 CBA, particularly in fighting tanking and service-time manipulation.<\/p>\n Yet a sense of distrust among some players led to an uprising against Meyer and Clark in 2024 that they eventually quelled. Along the way, people both inside and outside the union have labeled Meyer as a puppet of powerful agent Scott Boras, a charge both Boras and Meyer have vigorously denied.<\/p>\n Meyer\u2019s champions call him a bulldog. His detractors call him a zealot. Which may make him ideal for the union as it prepares for what could be a lengthy, contentious labor stoppage this coming winter. Or it could make the union uniquely vulnerable as the 30 owners circle the wagons in pursuit of a salary cap. At a time when the owners have leveraged public outrage about the spending of the Los Angeles Dodgers into a push for their longstanding goal of a cap, the union was hastily calling team meetings and conference calls to figure out a way forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it has any impact on negotiating,\u201d said Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, a member of the executive board. \u201cBruce has been our lead negotiator. He\u2019s done it in the past. Although Tony has been the face of the PA in terms of negotiating, I\u2019m still as confident as ever in Bruce and everyone else that we\u2019ve got behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n Added Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, a former member of the MLBPA board, \u201cMy confidence in Bruce is extremely high. I think he\u2019s fabulous at his job. He has a great understanding of how to help the players navigate these types of negotiations. He\u2019s proven that over his career.\u201d<\/p>\n But the process to crown Meyer featured bumps. The union\u2019s leadership council convened a call with player representatives from all 30 clubs on Tuesday evening to discuss Clark\u2019s resignation and determine new leadership. But the players stopped short of voting for Meyer, with at least three player reps objecting, according to a person informed about the call.<\/p>\n The vote on Wednesday proved to be more decisive for Meyer. Despite discussion of other candidates<\/a>, the union decided to elevate its chief negotiator.<\/p>\n Meyer joined the MLBPA after a stint as counsel for the NHLPA, where he worked with former MLBPA chief Don Fehr. Meyer arrived with the players looking to regain ground, which some believe had been lost in CBA negotiations during 2011 and 2016. His initial title was a new one: senior director of collective bargaining and legal.<\/p>\n