Mets’ Francisco Lindor wants to see MLBPA ‘improve’, not remove leaders

PORT ST. LUCIE — Francisco Lindor sees room for improvement in the MLBPA, but he isn’t calling for an overhaul in leadership.

The Mets shortstop was among the players who participated in a Zoom call Monday in which there was movement to remove Bruce Meyer, the union’s lead negotiator and No. 2 to MLBPA executive director Tony Clark.

Lindor was asked by The Post’s Joel Sherman on Tuesday if Clark and Meyer should be removed.
AP
“I appreciate what they have done,” Lindor said. “This is a question that I have to be very careful in the way I answer it, because people can misinterpret it, but I personally think that we can definitely improve, but I am not one to remove people. But there is definitely room for improvement, including in all of us.”

Former minor league advocate and MLBPA official Harry Marino has been proposed as a replacement for Meyer, The Athletic first reported.

One issue is many players believe Clark and Meyer have become too aligned with agent Scott Boras.

It follows an offseason in which top free agents (many of whom are represented by Boras) remained unsigned into spring training.

Jordan Montgomery and J.D. Martinez (both Boras clients) are still available on the market. Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman and Blake Snell (all Boras clients) are among the players who signed after camps opened.
Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark, left, and chief negotiator Bruce Meyer during the lockout in 2022.AP
Also, players are unhappy that J.D. Davis was released by the Giants last week and, as a player who went to arbitration with the club, was only owed one-sixth of the $6.9 million he was set to receive. A provision in the collective bargaining agreement allows such a severance payment.

Lindor downplayed the idea that Boras has too much influence on the union, particularly with Meyer.

“This is our union, and we get to control it, we get to run it,” Lindor said. “Ultimately, Bruce and Tony do what we tell them to do. … They are just facilitators for us.”

Lindor said players are having “tough” conversations in advance of the next CBA negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2026 season.