Players are ‘agitating’ for removal of MLBPA executive director Tony Clark

We know a labor war is likely on the horizon. We just wrote an entire season preview about that, even. Many players know that, too, and that’s why the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal is reporting there is a movement within the Major League Baseball Players Association “agitating” to remove executive director Tony Clark from his position before anything goes down.

It’s not a universal feeling by any means — both sides have their supporters, and a decision isn’t close. However, if a change at the top is going to be made, it will need to be made soon, as bringing in a new executive director would mean someone new to have to meet with all the players, hear their concerns, figure out what’s been going wrong, and come up with a plan to fix it all by the time the next collective bargaining negotiations begin in 2021.

And removing Clark from his role as executive director doesn’t necessarily mean players want him to be gone from any kind of leadership position, either: as Rosenthal writes, many players “believe the union would benefit from Clark’s intelligence, passion, and playing background in another role even if he were removed as executive director.” That’s likely true: Clark rose to the top for a reason, because he was a valuable piece of the union puzzle before he was at the head of it. Now, though, players are considering the need for a labor lawyer like they had when Donald Fehr and Michael Weiner, the two previous executive directors, were guiding the MLBPA.

Whether Clark is replaced or not, the MLBPA does need to bolster its ranks with more full-time staff: what was once the most powerful union in sports now has the smallest staff of any of the major sports. And, as Rosenthal notes, the players also need to be willing to strike in order to be at their most effective, and they were not back in 2016 during the last negotiations. That seems to be changing following the CBA changes made during those talks, as Clark even brought the subject up during his spring tour of the 30 teams.

So, the players need to decide if they want Clark in charge or in another role where the experience he does have can be used. They need to bolster the ranks of the union, adding lawyers and economists so they don’t continue falling behind as they have. And they need to do all of this soon so a plan of action can be conceived and enacted in time for 2021. It’s a lot, but the players remain galvanized heading into the 2018 regular season, so it all sounds like it will be figured out in the coming months.