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Tensions are growing within the MLB Players Association amid a dragged out offseason that saw many top free agents settle for smaller deals than anticipated or still remain unsigned just days from Opening Day.
On Monday March 18, The Athletic reported that Major- and minor-league player leadership confronted MLBPA executive director Tony Clark and urged him to replace his second-in-command union leader Bruce Meyer with former MLBPA lawyer Harry Marino. MLB players have also grown increasingly frustrated with the perceived control of super agent Scott Boras.
“Many players and agents have long grumbled about union leadership, suspecting that agent Scott Boras has outsized influence, which Boras and union leadership have always denied,” wrote Evan Drellich of The Athletic on March 18. “But player agents have maintained those complaints for years, particularly in regard to the fortunes of baseball’s middle class.”
Meyer has been with the MLBPA since 2018 and he currently serves as the union’s deputy executive director under Clark. ESPN’s Jeff Passan referred to the players’ attempt to oust Meyer as a “stunning gambit” as Meyer served as the union’s chief labor negotiator in the last collective bargaining agreement.
At nearly 1 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning March 19, Passan reported for ESPN that a majority of player union leaders told Clark that they wanted to replace Meyer with Marino in an informal vote held on a nearly three-hour long videoconferencing call Monday night. The call ended with Clark declining to levy a judgment on Meyer’s future, according to Passan.
“Players, sources said, lined up behind Marino, also calling for an audit of the MLBPA’s spending,” Passan wrote. “Multiple high-powered agents backed Marino’s candidacy, sources said, with the perception that Meyer, 62, was ideologically aligned with agent Scott Boras.”
Scott Boras Fires Back at MLBPA ‘Coup’ Attempt
Baseball’s biggest agent is siding with the MLBPA’s incumbent leadership (Clark and Meyer) as players threaten to push for change.
“If you have great ideas, and you want those ideas to be promulgated in a manner that is beneficial to the union and the players they represent, you go to Tony Clark with your plan,” Scott Boras told The Athletic on March 19. “You discuss it with him first, and the many lawyers in the union. If you have issues with the union and you want to be involved with the union, you take your ideas to them. You do not take them publicly, you do not create this coup d’etat and create really a disruption inside the union. If your goal is to help players, it should never be done this way.”
Marino Takes Shot at Boras Amid Free Agency Struggles
Harry Marino left the MLBPA last year but has an existing strong relationship with players because he was a key figure in securing the first CBA for minor leaguers. Marino made a statement that suggests doubt to Boras’s effectiveness to secure sufficient money for players and concerns over his support of Clark.
“The players who sought me out want a union that represents the will of the majority,” Marino told The Athletic on Tuesday. “Scott Boras is rich because he makes — or used to make — the richest players in the game richer. That he is running to the defense of Tony Clark and Bruce Meyer this morning is genuinely alarming.”
Some free agents this offseason have been presented with much smaller markets than they anticipated. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the San Francisco Giants this week, which is a far cry from the rumored $270 million deal that Boras was seeking for Snell earlier this offseason. Cody Bellinger is another star Boras client that settled for a smaller deal (three years, $80 million) than originally expected.
Starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery and designated hitter JD Martinez are two Boras clients coming off strong seasons that remain unsigned as Opening Day approaches. Another point of labor tension for MLB players stems from the Giants recent release of third baseman JD Davis, thus only requiring them to pay one-sixth of his salary. Davis then signed with the Oakland A’s. Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize described numerous labor issues to The Athletic.
“I think if you went around the room and asked, I think everybody would give you a different answer,” Mize told The Athletic. “Coming off the heels of this free agency is a pretty glaring one. But there’s tons of details. You could look at the J.D. Davis situation. You could look at free agency. I think you could look at the taxes of the CBT (competitive balance tax) stuff. So many guys are going to give you different answers, whether it’s service time or whatever.”
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