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Don Van Natta Jr.
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Don Van Natta Jr.
ESPN Senior Writer
- Host and co-executive producer of the new ESPN series, “Backstory”
- Member of three Pulitzer Prize-winning teams for national, explanatory and public service journalism
- Author of three books, including New York Times best-selling “First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush”
- 24-year newspaper career at The New York Times and Miami Herald
Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark resigned Tuesday after an internal investigation revealed an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who was hired by the union in 2023, sources told ESPN.
The union announced Clark’s resignation in a statement on Tuesday evening.
“The strength of this union is — and will always be — the solidarity of our membership,” the statement read. “We have a long history of fighting for the rights of every Player, and we’re committed to making sure we can continue that fight successfully.”
During the union’s internal probe — which came in the wake of a wide-ranging and still-open federal investigation into the MLBPA’s finances and other alleged improprieties, including nepotism — the relationship between Clark and the woman came to light, sources said, and prompted him to step down after more than a dozen years as the union’s leader.
Following the revelation by ESPN of the investigation by the Eastern District of New York in late May, the MLBPA hired former assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman to serve as outside counsel and inform the union’s powerful eight-man executive subcommittee of potential legal liabilities. In the course of the inquiry, the disclosure of the relationship was seen as crossing a red line by player leaders, who were already skeptical about Clark’s future due to the federal probe, sources told ESPN.
The federal investigation was triggered by a whistleblower complaint filed against Clark with the National Labor Relations Board in November 2024 that alleged self-dealing, misuse of resources, abuse of power and nepotism. Among the issues raised in the anonymous complaint: the construction by the MLBPA of a large office in Arizona, where Clark lives and where his sister-in-law worked following its opening in 2023.
Beyond the office, the EDNY’s investigation concerns questions about the use of funds related to profits from OneTeam Partners, a multibillion-dollar group-licensing company part-owned by the union, and Players Way, a youth baseball initiative that spent millions of dollars but offered only a handful of events, sources familiar with the investigation said.
Prosecutors are also investigating allegations of obstruction, according to sources briefed on the investigation who spoke with ESPN on the condition of anonymity. A former NFLPA lawyer alleged Clark and Lloyd Howell, the former NFLPA executive director who later resigned, mounted “a pressure campaign to shut down a thorough review” of a proposed bonus plan that would have paid millions to OneTeam executive board members.
The allegation was made by Heather McPhee, a top veteran NFLPA lawyer who filed a federal lawsuit against the NFLPA and later was fired. McPhee is expected to testify before a federal grand jury in Brooklyn. The EDNY was aware of the inappropriate relationship before ESPN first reported it Tuesday, sources said.
The MLBPA in June hired Braverman to advise players on the status of the government’s case, and during the union’s board meeting in December, he briefed the subcommittee about potential “serious” legal liabilities Clark posed, sources said. Neither Braverman nor Clark’s attorney, Daniel Collins, returned messages left Tuesday by ESPN.
In a video call late Tuesday afternoon, player leaders discussed Clark’s potential replacement but did not take a vote, planning to talk with the union’s rank and file before doing so, sources told ESPN. Although the union’s constitution does not outline a succession plan, player representatives and subcommittee members are expected to vote on an interim executive director as soon as Wednesday, sources said, with deputy executive director Bruce Meyer the likeliest candidate to take over.
The goal of naming an interim executive director, subcommittee member and veteran relief pitcher Brent Suter told reporters, is to “keep everything as stable as we can this year.” The tumult comes at a seminal time for the union. The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and the league intends to bargain for a salary cap the hardest it has since its push for one in 1994 led to a player strike that canceled the World Series. Because of this, top players see strong leadership as paramount.
Clark’s resignation, which was first reported by The Athletic, cast a pall over a negotiation already expected to be the most contentious in a generation, with owners expected to lock out the players upon the basic agreement’s expiration, putting the 2027 season in jeopardy if the sides can’t reach a deal.
Clark, 53, was the first player to lead the MLBPA and was voted in as executive director in 2013 after the death of predecessor Michael Weiner. Multiple times since then, players had considered changes in leadership at the union — including an attempted spring 2023 ouster of Meyer that Clark helped stop — but the investigation by the EDNY led to questions that ultimately factored in Clark’s resignation.
The union, which was scheduled to start its spring training tour of all 30 clubhouses Tuesday, abruptly canceled its 8 a.m. ET meeting with the Cleveland Guardians in Goodyear, Arizona.
“This happening during the investigation is not overly surprising,” said New York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien, also a subcommittee member. “But it still hurts. It’s still something I’m processing and I just want our player group to move forward this year and be able to have a good year of negotiating with leadership that cares about what players want.
“The timing being February, when we’re looking forward to December when the CBA expires, is better than it happening in November if something came out.”
Clark joined the MLBPA following a 15-year player career and was seen as a potential successor to Weiner, who died in 2013 after battling brain cancer. Clark’s ascent was hailed by players, though following a CBA he negotiated in 2017 that was seen as an overwhelming win for the league, the union hired Meyer, a longtime labor lawyer who had worked with the NHL, NFL and NBA, as chief negotiator.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon, a former player rep, said Tuesday that he was “surprised” by Clark’s resignation, adding that he didn’t think “any of us saw it coming.”
“The strength of the union isn’t one person,” Taillon said. “It’s about the players. It’s always been about that. I’m confident we’ll find someone good to lead us.”
Meyer shepherded the union’s return-to-play negotiations through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and was in charge at the bargaining table when the league locked out the players in 2021. Despite the subcommittee voting unanimously in March 2022 to reject the league’s final offer that would have led to games being missed, the rank-and-file players voted 26-4 in favor of the deal.
“With this group of players, we’ve been through a lot,” said Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, also a former player rep. “We’ve seen a ton. We’ve been through a lockout, we’ve been through 2020. That kept the players very informed and very aware. Having gone through those experiences will help in this one.”
The investigation into the MLBPA roiled the union, even as Clark denied wrongdoing and continued to do so months after government lawyers started asking questions about his tenure.
OneTeam Partners, an idea hatched by Clark and former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and launched in 2019, was valued at nearly $2 billion when one of the initial partners in the venture, RedBird Capital, sold its 40% stake in the business to three investors in 2022. As a group-licensing firm, OneTeam sought to strike media deals and monetize athletes’ name, image and likeness.
The bonus plan, which would have given so-called “profit units” to board members, was flagged by McPhee, the former NFLPA lawyer who was fired in late December. The NFLPA launched an investigation after McPhee raised concerns, but the MLBPA declined to do the same.
McPhee alleged in her lawsuit in December that Clark urged Howell to “shut down” the investigation asking questions about OneTeam’s executive bonus plan, under which Clark would have earned millions of dollars in payments.
Players Way, one of Clark’s pet projects, initially aimed to hold events and showcases for youth baseball players and spent at least $3.9 million despite limited attendance. ESPN reported in October that federal investigators asked questions about the for-profit company, which listed a suite number at a Windermere, Florida, address that was actually a post office box at a UPS Store.
In a statement to ESPN, Clark said the union started Players Way “as an oasis for young athletes and families who too often get exploited in today’s billion-dollar ‘youth sports’ machinery.”
Although union officials insisted the organization would become far more active last October, Players Way, according to its website, currently has no events scheduled. Several sources have told ESPN that Players Way has been shut down, though union officials have declined to confirm that.
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo and Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.
