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
FILE - Attorney Bruce Meyer, the current interim executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, speaks at a news conference in New York, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Four people connected to a company hired by New York City to operate homeless shelters for migrants were arrested Tuesday as part of a federal public corruption investigation that is also examining a City Council member and a top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The charges Tuesday focused on two leaders of the nonprofit, BHRAGS Home Care Corp., who are accused of stealing more than $1.3 million from the taxpayer-backed organization, and two subcontractors who the indictment says paid bribes and kickbacks to the men in exchange for contracts worth millions.
Investigators are also probing whether City Council Member Farah Louis and her sister Debbie Louis, an aide to Hochul, accepted bribes related to the appropriation of city funds to the nonprofit, according to a copy of a search warrant viewed by The Associated Press.
The Louis sisters were not among the four people arrested on Tuesday. Debbie Louis was placed on leave after the governor's office learned of the investigation last week, a Hochul spokesperson said.
The indictment describes multiple layers of corruption within BHRAGS, a service provider that has received nearly $200 million in contracts from the city's Department of Homeless Services since 2022.
Prosecutors said the company's executive director, Roberto Samedy, and its former board chairman, Jean Ronald Tirelus, siphoned money from the nonprofit, including $800,000 earmarked for "economic growth and affordable housing” in distressed Brooklyn neighborhoods.
The pair also received more than $200,000 in kickbacks and bribes in exchange for steering contracts worth millions of dollars to businesses controlled by Edouardo St. Fort and Miguel Jorge, the indictment said.
Tirelus, Samedy and Jorge all pleaded not guilty through their attorneys in court on Tuesday and were released on bond. Tirelus’ lawyer, Todd Spodek, said he “categorically disputes the charges.” Samedy's attorney, Seth Zuckerman, said his client was intent on “clearing his name and getting back to the important work BHRAGS is doing in the community.”
St. Fort, a former New York City police sergeant, appeared in a Boston courtroom Tuesday and was also released on bond. He did not enter a plea and did not respond to questions as he left the courtroom.
The case was initially referred to authorities by the city's Department of Social Services, which raised concerns about BHRAG's payments to St. Fort's security company, Fort NYC Security, according to a spokesperson for the agency.
Joseph Nocella, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said the defendants worked together “to loot public funds from an organization devoted to serving vulnerable New Yorkers.”
The indictment did not outline any wrongdoing by others. All four of the men arrested Tuesday were mentioned in a search warrant, signed March 19, seeking communications between the nonprofit, the Louis sisters and Edu Hermelyn, a political consultant.
Hermelyn is the husband of state Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who chairs the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Messages left for Farah Louis, Debbie Louis and Edu Hermelyn were not returned.
In a statement, a spokesperson for BHRAGS said the nonprofit has served New Yorkers for more than 50 years “with integrity and the highest ethical standards, and we take the allegations against Mr. Samedy seriously.”
The company has long focused on providing at-home health care to the sick and elderly, but expanded its mission in recent years to include homeless services. That pivot came as the city's existing shelter system was stretched thin by the influx of asylum seekers under the former mayor, Eric Adams.
Hermelyn served as a senior advisor to Adams, but resigned over questions about whether he was allowed to hold that position while simultaneously being a Democratic Party district leader.
Tirelus and Samedy were charged with wire fraud, embezzlement, and bribery-related offenses. St. Fort and Jorge were charged with federal program bribery and related charges. All face possible prison sentences if convicted.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would “definitely be looking into” the city's contracts with BHRAGS.
The existence of a search warrant naming Farah and Debbie Louis doesn’t necessarily indicate prosecutors plan to bring criminal charges against them, only that investigators persuaded a magistrate judge to allow them to dig deeper and seize evidence.
Nevertheless, the governor’s office said Debbie Louis has been placed on leave. A spokesperson for the City Council said it “takes any potential misconduct extremely seriously.”
“New Yorkers deserve confidence in their government,” said Yoav Gonen, the council’s communications director. “It is essential that the federal investigation proceed fairly and expeditiously to bring this matter to a resolution.”
Associated Press reporter Michael Casey contributed to this report from Boston.
Roberto Samedy leaves a courthouse, in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Jean Ronald Tirelus leaves a courthouse in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Roberto Samedy leaves a courthouse, in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Jean Ronald Tirelus leaves a courthouse in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Edouardo St. Fort, right, leaves federal court after making a first appearance in connection with a New York corruption case, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
Edouardo St. Fort, right, leaves federal court after making a first appearance in connection with a New York corruption case, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)
FILE - New York Councilwoman Farah Louis speaks during a celebration ceremony for the refurbished George Floyd statue, after it was vandalized following its Juneteenth installation, July 22, 2021, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
