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Bargaining: Explaining MLB union leader’s shock resignation
MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark resigned yesterday. The reason why is a double whammy. Our reporters shared yesterday that a union inquiry found Clark had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law. That might not ordinarily be a workplace issue, except the MLBPA hired said sister-in-law in 2023. Not good.
Many more details here from Ken Rosenthal, Evan Drellich and Andy McCullough. Clark’s ouster didn’t come in a vacuum. Members of the union’s executive subcommittee have been in touch with the Justice Department amid a federal inquiry into the union’s finances. Clark and the MLBPA hired separate lawyers to represent them in that process, a potential indication that his interests and the union’s had diverged. But nobody in baseball woke up yesterday morning, when Clark was supposed to start a tour of spring training clubhouses, expecting him to be out now.
It’s not a good time for the MLBPA to be without its head. Players did not appoint an interim head yesterday but could select new leadership as soon as today. Time is of the essence. The union’s collective bargaining agreement with MLB expires after this season, and owners are going to be out for blood.
But Clark wasn’t running a one-man show. Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt, an executive subcommittee member, made the point that Clark wasn’t the union’s head negotiator or lawyer. Still, his exit is a destabilizing event with limited time before a looming lockout. The CBA expires on Dec. 1.
Just how big a problem is this for MLB’s players? I asked Levi Weaver, author of our free and excellent baseball newsletter, to size it up for us:
💬 “I think it’s too early to tell. Bruce Meyer (Clark’s No. 2) does have experience with these types of negotiations, but the union didn’t give him a shoo-in vote when they met yesterday. Remember: There was something of a coup attempt in 2024 — not to oust Clark, but to replace Meyer. That ended up going nowhere, but it will be interesting to see how the process plays out.
“If the union can replace Clark in a relatively peaceful and timely manner, it should be fine — maybe even an upgrade, depending on how staunchly you want the union to fight ownership in the coming negotiations. But if there is extended infighting about who replaces Clark, that’s where it could be disastrous.”
We’ll keep moving with some lighter fare.
News to Know
U.S. men’s hockey stuck with Sweden today
The American men’s hockey team was the No. 2 seed coming out of the group round of the Olympics, but its reward is a brutal quarterfinal matchup today against Sweden (3:10 p.m. ET, NBC). The Swedes failed to win their group and had to play a playoff game against Latvia (a 5-1 win) yesterday. The Americans will be coming off a bye, but it’s still a tough draw. These are two of the top three teams in the tournament, and one of them will finish far away from the podium. Top seed Canada faces the Czech Republic, a team it already beat 5-0, a few hours before. Full breakdowns of the quarters here.
Other top Olympic updates:
- Amber Glenn turned in an invalid element (we can explain) in the short program in Olympic figure skating, leaving Alysa Liu as the best hope to end a 20-year American medal drought in women’s skating. The free skate is tomorrow.
- Team USA notched its best-ever finish in the men’s biathlon relay. The Americans came in fifth as France took the gold medal.
- The president of the biggest soccer club in Ukraine donated more than $200,000 to the skeleton racer who lost his Olympic dream when the IOC disqualified him for wearing a helmet honoring athletes who died during Russia’s invasion of his country.
More news
- Officials stopped a Champions League match between Real Madrid and Benfica after Real star Vinicius Junior alleged racial abuse by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni. Read our full report.
- Sherrone Moore will get a hearing to challenge the validity of his arrest on the day Michigan fired him as football coach. Moore’s lawyer is trying to get all charges against him dismissed.
- Tiger Woods has not played a competitive golf round since 2024. Asked if he had ruled out a return to the Masters in April, the 50-year-old gave a one-word answer: “No.”
- Ronda Rousey will fight in MMA for the first time since 2016 when she meets Gina Carano on May 16 on Netflix. I assume there is an audience for this somewhere.
- WNBA players made a few financial concessions in their latest collective bargaining offer to the league’s owners. More here.
You Need to See This: A ‘best ever’ final
Did you watch the men’s freeski big air competition at the Olympics yesterday? It was an amazing exhibition of what the human body can do when it’s hurled into the air at a high rate of speed and upward angle. Norway’s Tormod Frostad won gold in an event that the silver medalist called “the best men’s freeski big air competition that has ever happened.”
You’d think the name “big air” would prepare you for what’s to come, but somehow, your stomach still drops every time. Here’s that silver medalist, American Mac Forehand, on his final run. Casual:
Watch Guide
📺 Olympics: All day
3:05 a.m. ET on Peacock
The morning’s big-ticket event is the women’s slalom, where Mikaela Shiffrin will try to get something out of these Olympics. The final run is at 7:30 a.m. ET on USA and Peacock, one of nine medal events today. The men’s hockey quarters are happening all day.
📺 UCL: Playoff round
12:45 p.m. ET on Paramount+
FK Qarabag and Newcastle United kick things off, before three more matches (all first legs of the knockout playoffs) follow at 3 p.m. ET. Here’s a story about Qarabag, a club chased away from its own home in Azerbaijan.
Pulse Picks
A poll of NBA All-Stars reveals their views on a gamut of issues. Most importantly, they think the best NBA player podcast is Jeff Teague’s.
Why is Norway, a giant of the Winter Olympics, not good at hockey? Peter Baugh investigates.
The Texas Rangers recreated Nolan Ryan’s iconic bloody jersey from 1990 for a stadium giveaway this season, but it wasn’t an easy process.
Our coworker Chris Pronger explains how hard the Olympic hockey tournament gets right about now.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Zak Keefer and Charlotte Harpur’s feature on Eileen Gu.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Norwegian skier Atle Lie McGrath’s trip to the woods.
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.