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On the cusp of what promises to be a bitter showdown with major league owners, the players’ union has no leader. Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., resigned under pressure Tuesday.

Why did Clark resign?

Clark and the union had engaged separate attorneys as federal authorities investigated alleged financial improprieties within the MLBPA, an affiliated licensing company and an affiliated youth sports venture.

The union also commissioned an investigation, initially focused on those allegations, that uncovered an “inappropriate relationship” between Clark and an employee, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to The Times, with the eight-man MLBPA player leadership team advising Clark that he should depart. The employee was his sister-in-law, the person confirmed.

The allegations remain under federal investigation, meaning that player leaders determined Clark could have been a liability on at least two fronts as players and owners head toward what is expected to be the most contentious collective bargaining in the sport in 31 years.

The Athletic first reported Clark had resigned; ESPN first reported on the relationship.

Who will replace Clark as the union leader?

The MLBPA issued a statement late Tuesday saying player leaders had met Tuesday. Players planned to canvass their peers scattered across spring training camps, then meet again Wednesday, with the possibility of voting on a new executive director then.

That could be either a permanent hire or an interim hire; the latter would reflect the urgency of the upcoming labor negotiation. Although the collective bargaining agreement does not expire until Dec. 1, Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week he expected talks on a new deal to start soon after opening day.

Bruce Meyer, the union’s deputy executive director and lead negotiator, would be the most logical successor. The MLBPA hired Meyer away from the NHLPA in 2018, one year into a bargaining agreement in which Clark and union negotiators were widely viewed as being badly beaten by Manfred and league negotiators.

No. It just acknowledged his resignation.

Is Meyer’s ascension a foregone conclusion?

Bruce Meyer in 2022

(Richard Drew / Associated Press)

Likely, yes, but not foregone. In 2021, with Meyer as lead negotiator and pushing for a better deal even as a 162-game season was threatened, players voted to accept the deal on the table. The union promoted Meyer into his current position in 2022.

In 2024, ESPN reported a majority of player representatives supported the replacement of Meyer with Harry Marino, who had unionized minor league players. Ultimately, Clark stuck with Meyer.

At this late date, however, internal bargaining preparations are underway, and Meyer is now a veteran of MLB negotiations. The goal is to “keep everything as stable as we can this year,” Angels pitcher Brent Suter told reporters. Suter is one of eight players on the union’s player leadership team.

Does this mean the players are divided and the owners are united?

No, and not that simple in any case.

On what looms as the core bargaining issue — the potential adoption of a salary cap — Clark and Meyer were aligned. Clark was the union voice calling a cap “institutionalized collusion,” with Meyer filling in the details of why the MLBPA believed a cap would not necessarily enhance parity and could leave players liable to receive a shrinking percentage of revenue over time.

Manfred has argued the current system helps elite players while squeezing the salaries and the jobs of the so-called middle class.

The owners currently appear united on pushing for a salary cap. If at some point they believe they have to do what the NHL did to get a cap — that is, lose an entire season — the interests of the large-market owners and the small-market owners could diverge.

What does this mean in terms of a potential lockout?

Nothing, really. Within the game, a lockout is considered all but inevitable.

Manfred has said he views a lockout as a negotiating tool. If MLB locks out players Dec. 1, no games are lost. If a lockout remains in place April 1, regular-season games could be lost.

In the last collective bargaining negotiation, owners locked out players in December, and a new deal was reached in March, preserving a 162-game season that started one week late.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — As Major League Baseball closes in on an agreement for its players to participate in the 2028 Olympics, Commissioner Rob Manfred said the controversy surrounding LA28 chief Casey Wasserman would not impact the league’s final decision.

“Our dealings are not with Casey,” Manfred said Thursday at the MLB owners’ meetings. “Our dealings are with the institution of the Olympics.”

On Wednesday, amid a stream of artists dumping Wasserman’s talent agency and a growing list of civic leaders calling on him to resign, the executive committee of the LA28 board issued a statement backing Wasserman.

In recently released emails, Wasserman was linked to Jeffrey Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. The board retained a law firm to investigate, the statement said, and the review did not uncover any behavior beyond what was already known: a “single interaction with Epstein” on a plane flight for a humanitarian mission and raunchy emails with Maxwell, both two decades ago, before the “deplorable crimes” of both became public.

“Based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games,” the committee statement said.

Epstein died by suicide after his indictment on sex trafficking charges in 2019. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021.

Manfred declined to say whether he was concerned that an association with Wasserman could be detrimental for baseball.

“I’m going to pass on that one,” Manfred said. “People much closer to that situation are better to opine on that.”

Mark Attanasio, the Los Angeles-based owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, is a member of the LA28 executive committee. Attanasio said he would let the statement speak for itself.

While baseball is not new to the Olympics, the participation of major leaguers would be. In past Olympics, MLB declined to interrupt its season so its players could travel halfway around the world, and Team USA featured minor leaguers and college players.

MLB players already travel to Los Angeles every summer, and Wasserman has pitched Manfred and MLB owners in a variety of meetings on the benefit of using major leaguers at a time the league is focused on broadening its international appeal.

“What an incredible opportunity to elevate the sport in a city where you have one of the great cathedrals of the sport,” Wasserman told The Times last year. “There is no better chance to tell the global story of baseball than from the Olympics in Los Angeles.

“They understand that. We could have another Dream Team, or two, depending on the countries. That is a vehicle to tell the story of baseball around the world, and that is really powerful.”

MLB and LA28 officials have worked out a tentative timeline under which the All-Star Game would be played in its usual mid-July spot in 2028, most likely in San Francisco, followed by a six-day, six-team Olympic baseball tournament at Dodger Stadium.

“I think people have come to appreciate that the Olympics on U.S. soil is a unique marketing opportunity for the game,” Manfred said Thursday. “We’ve got a lot of players interested in doing it, and I feel pretty good about the idea we’ll get there.”

Are the Dodgers good for baseball?

Outfielder Kyle Tucker adjusts his Dodgers cap during his introductory news conference at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 21.

(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers’ signing of outfielder Kyle Tucker – for $60 million per year – revived the debate over whether the big-spending, star-studded, back-to-back champions are good for baseball.

“I think great teams are always good for baseball,” Manfred said. “I think, with respect to this particular great team, it added to what we have been hearing from fans in a lot of markets for a long time about the competitiveness of the game. But great teams are always good for baseball.”

MLB officials have cited that fan concern repeatedly over the last year, prelude to an expected push for a salary cap. Manfred declined to discuss the owners’ labor strategy but said he expected negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement to begin after Opening Day and said he would not talk about MLB proposals until they are presented to the players’ union.

The current agreement expires Dec. 1, and a lockout is widely expected.

Where can you watch the Angels?

Angels star Mike Trout celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Houston Astros on Sept. 28 in Anaheim.

(Wally Skalij / Associated Press)

The Angels already are in spring training, and yet their fans have no idea where to watch their games on television this season.

The Angels have agreed that MLB will provide a streaming option, and a team official confirmed they are still deciding whether to let MLB sell their telecasts to cable and satellite distributors or reinvent what remains of the FanDuel Sports channel already part-owned by the team, with the Kings joining the Angels.

The Angels’ situation is not unique. Three years ago, MLB did not provide broadcast services to any team. Today, amid the collapse of the cable and satellite universe, MLB provides broadcast services to 14 of its 30 teams — 15, if the Angels go that way.

In 2028, Manfred would like to sell national streaming packages, in the hope that more bidders would mean more revenue, a particularly acute need for the teams losing revenue as guaranteed rights fees are cut or eliminated altogether. The challenge: how to convince the Dodgers and other big-market teams to sacrifice their still-lucrative local rights so MLB can sell a 30-team package.

“Ideally, I’d love to get there,” Manfred said. “I don’t need to get all the way there to accomplish most of what I am thinking about.”

On Thursday, Manfred cited one way he could get close enough: have rival owners vote to expand the number of games — for the Dodgers or anyone else — that would be classified as national rather than local.

“We can take as many games as we want from any club in a national package,” Manfred said, “with a majority vote of the clubs.”