In March 2024, then MLB Players Association deputy executive director Bruce Meyer survived a palace coup. His defense strategy included a letter to players in which he left certain his hawkish reputation in his long career in labor negotiations. Two years after the 99-day lockout ended with agreement between owners and players on a collective bargaining agreement, Meyer sided with those players who preferred shutting down the game rather than taking that deal.
“Some players emerged from bargaining disappointed that we did not accomplish more and in particular that we did not miss games to see if more [gains] could be made,” Meyer wrote. “To be clear, I sympathized and still do with these players and this position.”
