SURPRISE, Ariz. — The No. 2 official of the baseball players’ association was shaken by the events culminating in the resignation of union head Tony Clark and said the change in leadership will not alter bargaining preparations ahead of talks in which Major League Baseball is expected to push for a salary cap.

“Just on a personal level I think we’re all fairly devasted by things that have happened in the last 48, 72 hours,” deputy executive director Bruce Meyer said Wednesday. “I’m not going to go beyond that in terms of personal feelings, but it’s fair to say that we were all personally upset, concerned about Tony. But I think this was something that the players determined had to happen at this particular point in time.”

A former All-Star first baseman who headed the union since 2013, Clark resigned Tuesday just months ahead of the expected start of bargaining for a labor contract to replace the deal that expires Dec. 1.

He was asked to resign by the union’s eight-man executive subcommittee after an investigation by the union’s outside counsel discovered evidence Clark had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, a union employee since 2023, a person familiar with the union’s deliberations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that was not announced.

“The information that really led to this came out within the last … 72 hours or so,” Meyer said. “So this is not something that has been kind of sat on. When the information came out the players on the subcommittee made their feelings known. And Tony, to his credit, he’s always been about the players first and Tony decided to take the action he did in the interest of the players.”

Clark did not respond to a text seeking comment.

The start of annual tour of spring training camps by union officials was pushed back a day and began Wednesday with the Kansas City Royals.

Down 2 starters

NORTH PORT, Fla. — The Atlanta Braves will begin the season without young right-handed starters Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep.

Schwellenbach had surgery Wednesday to clean up “loose bodies” in his elbow. Waldrep is scheduled to undergo a similar procedure next week.

The Braves didn’t reveal a timeline for when the pitchers could be available, but manager Walt Weiss says he is hopeful that both will be able to pitch this season. Schwellenbach was 7-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 17 starts last season before a broken right elbow at the end of June.

In a courtroom

NEW YORK — A scheduled spring fraud trial for two Cleveland Guardians pitchers accused of colluding with sports bettors to rig bets and betray “America’s pastime” will likely be postponed until October, a federal judge said Wednesday as the men pleaded not guilty to a rewritten indictment.

Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto left a May 4 trial date on the books for now, but indicated she’ll probably move it to the fall in the coming weeks.

Pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, speaking Spanish, entered not guilty pleas through a translator to a rewritten indictment in Brooklyn federal court.

No new charges were in the superseding indictment unsealed on Friday, as prosecutors charged a third individual with serving as a middleman between bettors and Clase. That person also pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

The pitchers were first charged in November with accepting several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 by placing more than 100 in-game prop bets and parlays on the speed and the outcome of certain pitches. Charges include wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests.

The rewritten indictment released added allegations that Clase used code words like “rooster” and “chicken” in communications.

Prior to a May 18, 2025, game against the Cincinnati Reds, Clase received a message to “throw a rock at the first rooster in today’s fight” and responded with: “Yes, of course, that’s an easy toss to that rooster,” the indictment said. However, Clase never entered the game and could not fulfill the plan to throw outside the strike zone to the first batter he faced, it added.

A day earlier, though, Clase broke Major League Baseball rules by using his cellphone in the middle of a game against the Reds to signal to gamblers that a pitch would be outside the strike zone, enabling them to win about $27,000, the indictment said.

Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July. Their teammates are just starting training camp for the new season. The team’s home opener is April 3.

Clase and Ortiz, who are free on bail, left the courthouse separately after Wednesday’s hearing. Neither commented. Lawyers for both men have insisted their clients never colluded with gamblers.

Lawyers for Ortiz have asked that he be tried separately, saying in court papers that if Clase passed along Ortiz’s pitching strategy to gamblers, he did so without Ortiz’s knowledge. They also noted that Ortiz is accused of throwing only two pitches that drew scrutiny over a 12-day span, while Clase is charged with colluding with gamblers on numerous pitches since 2023.

“Mr. Clase may have abused his relationship with Mr. Ortiz as friends and teammates by convincing Mr. Ortiz to throw certain pitches at certain times — ostensibly for baseball reasons as far as Mr. Ortiz was aware,” the lawyers wrote.

They said they might present a defense to the jury that would cast “Ortiz as a victim of Mr. Clase’s scheme, rather than a knowing and willing participant.”

Clase, a three-time All-Star, had a $4.5 million salary in 2025, the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract. Prosecutors say he started providing bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 but didn’t seek payoffs until last year.

Prosecutors have said that Ortiz, who had a $782,600 salary last season, joined the scheme last June.

The Guardians and Major League Baseball have said they are cooperating with the investigation. MLB said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity.