Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What shocking news did Tony Clark announce today?
Some shocking news today. I think, are all the players in shock, too?
Yeah, I mean, we got the text this morning, and to be honest, I think across the board, we're talking about the players' reps are going to meet today with the union, and that's really all we got for media.
That is White Sox player rep Davis Martin, who is the player rep for the Sox, talking to Bruce Levine. That was this morning with the news that was somewhat surprising to hear, especially ahead of what is considered the most important negotiation yet for Major League Baseball as we careen toward the end of the current CBA at the end of the 2026 season.
This is Raheem Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. And that news is that Tony Clark... is resigning as the Major League Baseball Players Association executive director.
Now, Clark is somebody who had come under a lot of criticism and a lot of fire when it came to how he was representing the players, whether or not they had a strong enough say, even in their last collective bargaining agreement that took place, the one that is currently governing baseball's players union and ownership agreement. But that is the word.
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Chapter 2: How are players reacting to Tony Clark's resignation?
That is a report that came out this morning. As you can imagine, Jeff Passan of ESPN, Don Vannata are a part of that report. And that's the latest news we've gotten so far. It's already tenuous, Mark, ahead of a situation that continues to be tenuous. Like everybody's saying cherish the season while you can.
I think we're already starting to see sides gearing up for what could be a very difficult fight.
It really is, and it sucks, and it's a headache, and the idea of, my God, I mean, a lockout in December is what it would be if it came down to that. I guess the formal negotiations between the owners and players are expected to begin early in the regular season this year, but could you imagine a sport that has obviously never had free agency – All of a sudden, trying to figure out a plan?
You mean salary cap?
Chapter 3: What are the implications of Clark's resignation for MLB negotiations?
Salary cap, yes. Free agency. Salary cap. I got what she needs. Salary cap, yes. Could you imagine? I mean, there's so many complications that would go into trying to hammer that out. And who truly wins and who truly loses? Because it's not as simple to say... Oh yeah, all those teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates of the world, all of a sudden they're going to be on an even scale.
Chapter 4: What investigation led to Tony Clark's resignation?
Unfortunately, it's a little bit more complicated than that. So even with all the fear that exists on the surface, I can't imagine what the negotiations and to put in something that has never existed in baseball just gives me a headache thinking about it.
Now, we were awaiting discussion with Evan Drellick on this. Evan is the senior writer for The Athletic covering Major League Baseball and really the labor negotiations and discussions that have gone on. Now, it's a busy news day, so Evan might be chasing down news right now. The report from Passan said that player leaders plan to meet at 4.30 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday. That's today. Hey.
So that's in about two and a half hours to discuss the fallout of Clark's resignation, because now they've got to figure out who needs to represent them ahead of what is what is going to be a very, very, very big battle coming up.
Chapter 5: Who might replace Tony Clark as executive director?
At least there is some lead time where you have the season to reacquaint yourself with what is supposed to happen next.
yeah yeah i mean it's it's bearing right down and it's like the it's almost like the stadium stuff we're all we're all mentioning in it and and kind of alluding to it and now all of a sudden like the stadium the with the bears the deal and the negotiations the collective bargaining agreement all of a sudden is right there in front of us it's getting like 2027 is getting way too close all of a sudden even though we just flipped to 2026 it's
We're right there now.
No, it's so true. What's the phrase? Get a jump on the day before the day jumps you. That's kind of how I feel like this is going. And the article goes on to say the process for naming Clark's replacement is unclear and the union's constitution does not outline a succession plan. Bruce Meyer is the union's deputy executive director. He's been quoted in a lot of these stories.
Chapter 6: What challenges does the MLBPA face moving forward?
He's also one of Evan Drellick's quotes in some of his stories. He's been named by several player leaders as to the most obvious candidate to take over that, according to many sources. Brent Suter, a veteran relief pitcher and subcommittee member, told reporters that the union is going to have an interim executive director and keep everything as stable as they can this year.
That doesn't immediately indicate to me a position of strength, but I know Meyer has been pretty public in a lot of his statements and conveying the union's message ahead of this fight.
Yeah, and they obviously needed a new voice in all of that, and that's exactly what they're going to get. So this is interesting timing for this. Actually, the timing is probably right because of what I just said, that things are going to get real. And once it gets real, do you have the right people on your side, whether you're on the owner's side or the player's side?
Well, I can confidently say that when it comes to the reporting side, we've got some guys. What?
Chapter 7: What did Mark Grote learn at the Bears stadium rally?
Yeah. In fact, Bruce Levine is now joining us. I know we were trying to chase down Evan Drollick, but there's a lot of news going on. Bruce, kind enough to join us via the Circus Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circus Sports app today. Bruce, you talked to Davis Martin, the player rep for the White Sox. Thanks for joining us from Arizona.
Yeah, absolutely. And everybody's pretty much in shock. All the, the players and the union reps, they had no idea that this was going to take place.
Chapter 8: How are local municipalities responding to the Bears' stadium plans?
And, uh, Obviously, the biggest thing going on here is the investigation into misappropriation of funds by union leaders. And that's where we find Tony quitting today as the head of the union. So two different issues here. One, what's going on with the union and how these funds are being spent? And two, how does this impact December 1st and the
The CBA being done and who is going to be the voice of the union moving forward.
How does this affect December 1st? What are the possibilities here, Bruce, in terms of changing for the better or for the worse?
Yeah, I don't think it's either one because... You know, they know the cadence of prior negotiations with Tony Clark. So that's a good thing when you know how someone negotiates and you have a rapport. Bring in somebody else from the outside, or if it's Bruce Meyer, as Layla mentioned, you know, who's the... the associate director, the Players Association, that may or may not be for a while.
We're talking about interim. Interim might be a week, two weeks, two months. We don't know that. Whatever voice is going to be there December 1st when this contract ends, it's got to be a strong voice with the affirmation of all the players believing in this guy. Meyer... A lot of people like him, a lot of people don't in the Players Association.
So with that in mind, it's not necessarily the guy, even though he might be the guy interim.
We're talking to Bruce Levine. He is joining us from Mesa, but he was also over in Glendale talking to White Sox player Rep. Davis Martin about Tony Clark's resignation.
And something that we haven't talked about yet regarding his resignation, Bruce, is it comes in the wake of the Eastern District of New York's ongoing investigation into the finances and other dealings of the Players Association for Major League Baseball. And this is a quote from Jeff Passan's article on ESPN.
including questions about the use of one-team partners, a multi-billion-dollar group licensing company partly owned by the Union and Players Way, which is a youth baseball initiative that spent millions of dollars but only offered a handful of events. And there was a whistleblower complaint, according to this article.
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