The MLBPA elected Bruce Meyer as interim Exec Dir on Wednesday night. Meyer, who had been Deputy Exec Dir and the union’s lead labor negotiator, replaces Tony Clark following his sudden resignation Tuesday.
MLBPA Player Board appoints Bruce Meyer as Interim Executive Director, Matt Nussbaum as Interim Deputy Executive Director pic.twitter.com/xsczBmxzfD
— MLBPA (@MLBPA) February 19, 2026
Meyer was widely considered the most obvious candidate to step in for Clark, whose resignation was triggered by an internal probe revealed an improper relationship, ESPN reported. The feds are also investigating Clark and the MLBPA on a series of allegations, including a misuse of funds and nepotism.
With a salary cap battle and potential lockout looming less than 10 months from now, the union is in desperate need of stability. As one agent put it of Meyer earlier Wednesday, “He’s the most stabilizing choice probably.”
Meyer, 64, spoke on a Tuesday afternoon MLBPA conference call with player reps and the executive subcommittee. Despite having support in the subcommittee, there was some rank-and-file pushback on him taking over, a source said, and no vote was taken. By Wednesday, Meyer was the unanimous choice among the 72 voting players, including minor leaguers, according to reports.
Other names reported by The Athletic as candidates included MLBPA general counsel Matt Nussbaum, ex-MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr and former players Daniel Murphy and Andrew Miller. Nussbaum was named interim Deputy Exec Dir to fill Meyer’s former role. He has been with the MLBPA since 2011.
“I don’t anticipate that anybody’s going to be leading negotiations other than me,” Meyer told reporters earlier Wednesday. “The executive director is essentially a CEO, but it’s never been a one-man operation with Tony or anyone that came before him.”
Meyer joined the MLBPA in 2018 as Senior Director, Collective Bargaining and Legal, and has been the deputy executive director since 2022. He led negotiations on the previous basic agreements in 2020 and 2022.
Former Marlins President David Samson believed Meyer’s elevation was always inevitable.
Samson, on his “Nothing Personal” podcast, described Meyer’s history with the union. “He’s a litigator for all intents and purposes. He is a fighter,” he said. “When he was brought in by the Players Association, he was brought in for the sole purpose of the last negotiation, which took place around 2021, to be a hardliner and to make sure players made continued progress in chipping away at the luxury tax, getting rid of the qualifying offer, getting the minimum salary up, and getting more money to younger players while keeping the top-end of players happy.
“He was well-known when there was a delay in the season after the last CBA. He had taken over negotiations and made it extremely difficult, causing there to be a delay in the season though no missed games.”
Meyer has practiced sports law for more than three decades after joining Weil, Gotshal & Manges out of law school, and also has represented the unions in hockey, basketball and football (all three now have a salary cap). He played a significant role in the 1992 landmark McNeil v. NFL case that changed the structure of NFL free agency.
“I’d have to say the most rewarding litigation victory in which I was involved in was when we won the trial in Minnesota for the football players in the early 1990s, striking down the NFL’s free agency restrictions under the antitrust laws,” Meyer told the MLBPA website.
Meyer described himself as “a tough litigator who also knows how to make deals when necessary.” He has typically operated behind the scenes, though he has done some interviews recently.
“Salary caps in the other sports have not led to competitive balance,” Meyer told The Athletic. “In fact -- baseball, which is the only one of the four major sports that does not have a salary cap -- actually has better competitive balance than the other sports. A salary cap punishes competition, punishes clubs that want to go out and acquire the best players and put the most exciting product on the field for the fans. It gives owners who prefer not to compete an all-purpose excuse not to do so.”
During a July appearance on “Foul Territory,” Meyer said: “The fact of the matter is they want that system because it’s going to ultimately put more money in their pockets; it’s going to increase their profits; it’s going to increase their franchise values, and that’s why they want it.”
Frustrated players had called for Meyer’s ouster in 2024, wanting to replace him with former MLBPA lawyer Harry Marino, but were unsuccessful. At the time, they were reportedly grumbling about agent Scott Boras’ influence on union matters.
“It’s absurd,” Meyer said then. “The players run the union. Scott’s obviously an important agent to the extent he represents a lot of players, and we talk to Scott just like we talk to any agent who wants to talk to us. I hesitate, because the more specific you get into it, the more it dignifies it. But I didn’t know Scott when I was hired, and I don’t think I met him, spoke to him, for the first 10 months I was here.”
Meyer also provided rebuttal during Tigers P Tarik Skubal’s significant arbitration hearing this offseason. Skubal defeated Detroit, with a three-person arbitration panel awarding him $32M. The Tigers had filed at $19M.
Meyer also is well aware of what looms.
“A lockout is all but guaranteed at the end of the agreement,” he told reporters Wednesday after meeting with the Cubs. “The league has pretty much said that. Their strategy in bargaining has always been to put as much pressure on players as they can to try and create divisions and cracks among our membership. It’s never worked. I don’t think it ever will work.”
