MLBPA Union Chief Tony Clark Calls Potential Salary Cap 'Institutionalized Collusion'

Even with the payroll gap between big market and small market teams growing, the head of the MLB Players Association made it clear where he stands on a salary cap.

Kansas City, MO, USA; Major League Baseball Player Association executive director Tony Clark speaks during a presentation at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The biggest names in baseball have congregated in Atlanta for the MLB All-Star Game this week, all for the purpose of celebrating America's pastime.

But behind the curtain, trouble seems to be brewing.

The collective bargaining agreement between the MLB and the MLB Players Association is set to expire shortly after the 2026 season. That gives the league and the players a little over 16 months to hash out the details in the fine print and cement where the sport will go in the future.

One of the biggest sticking points, however, is the potential introduction of a salary cap.

Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets have bolstered their payrolls to historic degrees in recent seasons. At the same time, the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays and Athletics have spent a fraction of the money on their own rosters.

Adding a salary cap – and floor – could theoretically bring both extremes back toward the center. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has publicly alluded to the idea, all in the name of competitive balance

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark doesn't see it that way, though.

"This is not about competitive balance," Clark said, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "This is institutionalized collusion."

Union chief Tony Clark on a salary cap: ‘This is not about competitive balance. This is institutionalized collusion."

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 15, 2025

Clark, 53, is a former player himself, playing in the big leagues from 1995 to 2009. The one-time All-Star spent seven seasons with the Detroit Tigers and five with the Arizona Diamondbacks, plus a handful of shorter stints with the Mets, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres.

MLB last experienced a lockout between December 2021 and March 2022, with Clark leading the players back then as well. That three-month standoff resulted in Opening Day getting pushed back a week.

If the league and union can't see eye-to-eye on the salary cap issue, another work stoppage could be in play. There are, of course, a laundry list of other topics that will be brought up at the negotiation table – from revenue sharing to on-field rules – but the idea of a salary cap is taking up a lot of the oxygen in the room for now.

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