SARASOTA, Fla. — With multiple reports indicating Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark is expected to resign, Orioles right-hander Chris Bassitt expressed confidence in the strength of the union and its ability to negotiate the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.

Bassitt, who signed with the Orioles last week, is a member of the union’s eight-player executive subcommittee.

“He’s helped us grow the game, he’s helped us get in the right direction, and unfortunately it was just time that we had to make a move,” Bassitt, 36, said of Clark. “And now it’s just, how can we now strengthen us even more?”

Clark’s expected resignation comes amid a federal investigation by the Eastern District of New York into the finances of the MLBPA. The Department of Justice also opened an investigation into Clark in October, according to reports from ESPN and The Athletic.

A spokesperson for the MLBPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bassitt said the executive subcommittee knew Clark’s resignation was coming, and the pitcher declined to delve into what, if any, message Clark had for the union’s highest-ranking players.

The move potentially complicates the union’s upcoming negotiations with the league and its owners for a new collective bargaining agreement. The current pact expires at the start of December.

According to ESPN, an internal investigation found Clark had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who had worked for the union since 2023.

Bassitt declined to go into detail but said he was proud of the way the executive board has handled itself during the probe.

“The executive board that we have has been absolutely incredible in all of this, and we have stuck together throughout all of this and working with the DOJ and FBI, and I have no reason or thoughts to why we’re not going to be able to handle this the right way and fix it the right way,” Bassitt said. “The way we have handled this the entire time, and I understand this story has broken over the last four, five hours, but this has been a lot bigger in our life than four or five hours. So how we have handled it, I have the utmost respect and love for those guys on the executive board that we will be able to get through this.”

The upcoming negotiations with the league could have serious ramifications for baseball’s economy. Some owners, including the Orioles’ David Rubenstein, have supported the addition of a salary cap. That is a nonstarter for many within the union.

Despite the timing, Bassitt said the union will weather this storm.

“This is, without a doubt, added stress, added problems, but at the end of the day, I think we’ll be OK,” Bassitt said. “We’ll be fine. I know we’ll be fine. The reality is that we’re structured in a way that losing Tony is a big piece, ’cause he was the head of our union, but he was not our head negotiator, he was not our head lawyer. So, we need to make adjustments, but we are OK.”