MLBPA Appoints Interim Executive Director to Succeed Disgraced Tony Clark

At least in the interim, the Major League Baseball Players Association has its next leader.

The MLBPA is naming deputy executive director Bruce Meyer its interim executive director, it announced Wednesday evening.

“Meyer will continue to act as the MLBPA’s chief negotiator for the union’s next Basic Agreement, which expires in December of this year,” the union said in its statement.

The veteran labor attorney will replace former MLB first baseman Tony Clark, who left the union in disgrace Tuesday after it found that he had maintained an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, a coworker.

Meyer formerly worked for Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a prominent New York law firm, and frequently represented athletes’ unions. Matt Nussbaum, formerly the union’s legal counsel, will take over as interim deputy executive director.

Clark’s departure could not have come at a less opportune time for the union, which is staring down a collective bargaining agreement expiration date of Dec. 1. It is generally believed that owners’ desire for a salary cap will lead to lengthy negotiations, though much could happen in the next 10 months.

There have been nine work stoppages in MLB history, most famously in 1981 (which wiped out a third of the season) and 1994 (which cancelled the World Series). There has been one stoppage in the 21st century, from Dec. 2021 to March 2022.

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