MLBPA’s Tony Clark vows to fight efforts to implement salary cap

Saying Major League Baseball’s new Economic Reform Committee is “focused in on how best to depress player salaries,” MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark on Saturday vowed to fight any efforts by the league to implement a salary cap after the current labor deal expires in 2026.

Clark, speaking from the union’s new Arizona satellite office, said that despite concerns from owners about the estimated $300 million payroll chasm between the top- and bottom-spending teams this year, the answer is not to implement a ceiling.

“We’re never going to agree to a cap,” Clark said. “Let me start there. We don’t have a cap. We’re not going to agree to a cap.”

“A salary cap is the ultimate restriction on player value and player salary,” Clark added later. “We believe in a market system.”