As labor talks loom, Tony Clark resigns from role as MLBPA director

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark is resigning from his position mere months before a potential lockout, according to multiple media reports.

BY FIELD LEVEL MEDIA

Feb 17, 2026, 7:50 AM Updated: 11:01 am

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MLBPA executive director Tony Clark is resigning from his position mere months before a potential lockout, according to multiple media reports.

The reports emerged Tuesday, the same day that Clark was supposed to begin his annual tour of spring training camps.

Clark, 53, has been in the position since 2013. The 15-year major league veteran has been under investigation by the Eastern District of New York since last summer for improper use of licensing money.

Tony Clark plans to resign as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, sources tell @DVNJr and me. Clark’s resignation comes in the wake of the Eastern District of New York’s investigation into alleged financial improprieties at the union.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 17, 2026

More on Tony Clark & the MLB

Tony Clark took over as director of the MLBPA in 2013 after the death of former director Michael Weiner. He oversaw a pair of new CBA agreements, an on-time one in 2017 and another after the 2021 season, which resulted in a 99-day shutdown of the sport and was resolved just in time for an on-time Opening Day.

That CBA agreement expires at the end of the upcoming season, and the two sides appear to be far apart in negotiations on a few key topics. Most notably, owners have expressed a desire to establish a salary cap, as in all other major American professional sports.

The union has said it is a non-starter, with Tony Clark vehemently opposing the creation of a salary cap, arguing it would not improve the sport’s competitive balance.

It remains to be seen what timeline there could be for the election of a new MLBPA director and how that could affect the CBA negotiations, which normally carry on over the course of the season.

MLB has not lost games due to a lockout since the 1994 strike canceled that year’s World Series.

–Field Level Media