Players increase potential war chest to $415 million ahead of bargaining

Big league baseball players increased their potential war chest of cash and investments ahead of collective bargaining to $415 million heading into 2026, up from $284 million at the start of 2025, according to the union's annual federal disclosure form filed Tuesday. The Major League Baseball Players Association had $222.1 million in U.S. Treasury securities, $155.5 million in other investments and $37.4 million in cash as of Dec. 31. The union executive board has withheld 100% of licensing money due players for 2024 and 2025 to prepare for bargaining to replace the current labor contract, which expires on Dec. 1. That money could be disbursed to players during a work stoppage. Each five-year cycle of the collective bargaining contract sees the war chest grow and money not already distributed sent to players after a labor deal was reached. The total of cash, Treasury securities and investments was $142 million at the end of 2022 and $201 million at the end of 2023. Total assets, including receivables and fixed assets such as furniture and computer equipment, rose to $519 million from $353 million at the end of 2024. Major League Baseball also is accumulating cash ahead of bargaining, about $75 million per club in withheld central fund distributions, a person familiar with the action told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because MLB has not made an announcement. Union head Tony Clark, who resigned in February 2026, received $3.58 million as part of a $17.95 million, five-year contract referred to in a financial statement by Mazars filed in 2024. It is not known whether Clark will be paid for the remainder of the deal, which included salaries of $3.76 million in 2026 and $3.95 million in 2027. Bruce Meyer, who became interim executive director in February, received $1.56 million last year in his role as deputy executive director, up $30,000 from 2024. General counsel Matt Nussbaum earned $916,840, deputy general counsel Jeff Perconte $740,333, senior adviser Ian Penny — a former general counsel — $877,703, and chief operating officer Xavier James $727,866. Among former players who work for the union, managing director of player services Kevin Slowey earned $519,671 and senior director of operations, business and strategy Chris Capuano $492,107. Other players listed included Phil Bradley at $271,296, Rick Helling $234,650, Javier Vazquez $149,745, Bobby Bonilla $132,477, Chris Singleton $129,000 and Andrew Miller $123,600. Dave Winfield, who retired from the union in February 2025, earned $77,033. The union paid $4.3 million for legal fees to Winston & Strawn, the law firm of Jeffrey Kessler, up from $2.8 million in 2024. It paid $100,000 to Morrison Foerster, a law firm retained as outside counsel for a probe that led to Clark's ouster. The union did not publicly release consolidated financial statements, as it did through 2023. The LM-2 included information on MLB Players Inc., its commercial wing, and the MLB Players Trust. With the entities grouped together, employee disbursements increased to nearly $26.6 million from $24.6 million in 2024 and $16.6 million in 2023. Fanatics paid the union $$106.4 million, an increase from $94.4 million; OneTeam Partners $40.2 million, down from $44.5 million; and MLB Advanced Media $16.7 million, up from $16.2 million. The union paid $1.3 million to terminate the lease at its longtime office near New York's Rockefeller Center and paid $708,000 in rent for its new office space a few blocks north and west. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb