Major League Baseball faces a potential lockout in December 2026. Players and management have long clashed over salary cap proposals, a format that union head Tony Clark criticizes as harmful to competition and player salary guarantees.

A TLANTA – As MLB commissioner Rob Manfred looks to improve competitive balance in the league, Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, made his position on the possibility of a salary cap abundantly clear on Tuesday. "This is institutionalized collusion," Clark said. "That's what a salary cap is."

That is why it’s not about competitive balance. It’s not about fair vs. not. This is institutionalized collusion,” exec Tony Clark says of owners pursuit of cap.