FanGraph’s Weekly Mailbag: February 21, 2026

The most consequential transaction (if you can call it that) in baseball this week was the firing of Tony Clark as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Clark, who had been the union’s head since 2013, resigned after an internal investigation found he had an “inappropriate relationship” with his sister-in-law, who was hired to work for the union in 2023. The MLBPA placed deputy executive director and chief negotiator Bruce Meyer in the top spot on an interim basis. The timing of the move is far from ideal, coming less than 10 months before the current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 PM ET on December 1, at which point the owners are expected to immediately lock out the players for the second time this decade. Still, as Michael Baumann wrote Tuesday, it’s an even worse time for the union to have leadership that members don’t trust. In addition to the ‘inappropriate relationship’, Clark is one of the subjects of a broader discussion federal investigation in both the MLBPA and the NFLPA regarding financial transactions involving the group licensing firm OneTeam Partners, and was the subject of a whistleblower complaint from November 2024 accused him of misuse of union resources, self-dealing and abuse of power. His departure will allow the players to better come together around their shared priorities.

In lighter news, 12 teams played their first spring training games on Friday, giving us a perfect opportunity to check out some of the players we featured during Prospect week. For example, if you watched the Mariners-Padres game, you would have seen four of our Top 100 Prospects, including the shortstop Foal Emerson (no. 11), midfielder Jonny Farmel (no. 51), right fielder Lazaro Montes (No. 66), and second baseman Michael Arroyo (No. 78) — in action, all playing for Seattle. The 21-year-old Arroyo (a 50-FV prospect) smoked a two-run home run to right-center field on an 0-2 changeup that took up far too much of the plate. He doubled his next time and finished the day 2-for-2. There are 16 matches scheduled for this afternoon.

We have more labor discussions in this mailbag, but that’s the last we’ll say about the start of spring training games. Instead, we’ll answer your questions about quantifying the pitcher-catcher relationship, the looming lockout, how teams perform after significant roster turnover, and more. But before we do, I want to remind you that this mailbag is exclusive to FanGraphs members. If you are not yet a member and would like to read more, you can register for membership here. It’s the best way to experience the site and support our employees, and it comes with a lot of other great benefits. If you would like to ask about an upcoming mailbag, please email me at mailbag@fangraphs.com.