MLBPA Deputy Dir Bruce Meyer emailed a “lengthy letter to players outlining his accomplishments” and challenging the “revisionist history going around in a coordinated, multi-pronged, campaign” he believes critics are using to try to get him fired, according to Evan Drellich of THE ATHLETIC. On Monday, a group of players asked MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark to “remove Meyer and replace him with a former lawyer at the union,” Harry Marino, because they are “frustrated with the overall direction of the organization.” Meyer “defended his record” during collective bargaining and accused “both the commissioner’s office and unnamed agents of undermining the union to the gain of the sport’s owners.” Marino “carries the trust of many of the sport’s minor leaguers” after he led their grassroots unionizing effort , which Clark, Meyer and the MLBPA eventually helped over the hump. Drellich notes all week, the future of the labor organization “has been uncertain.” Marino left in the summer, in part because of a “fractured relationship with Clark and Meyer.” Marino and his backers are “attacking not only the bargaining record under Clark and Meyer, but the communication and overall function of the MLBPA.” Drellich: “It seems impossible at this point to expect Clark and Marino could again coexist inside the same administration.” The questions are whether Clark “removes Meyer in favor of someone other than Marino” -- either by dismissing Meyer or by re-assigning him within the organization -- and whether Clark himself “winds up being forced out.” Major- and minor-league players could “vote on Meyer and/or Clark’s future in coming days” ( THE ATHLETIC, 3/22 ).
