I have been waiting for someone at the MLBPA to say this out loud for years. And on Wednesday, the union's brand-new executive director walked up to the podium and said every word of it.

Bruce Meyer was unanimously elected as the sixth executive director in the history of the Major League Baseball Players Association, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. He was previously the union's No. 2 official and steps into the role at one of the most consequential moments in labor history - with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire and a new deal to be negotiated.

And he came out swinging. Here is what he said about tanking teams, and I am going to quote him at length because every word matters: "Look, we can talk about competitive balance and go over the numbers... But every team in Major League Baseball has the ability to compete, and there are teams that are choosing not to who have the ability to do more, the wherewithal to do more."

Choosing not to compete. That is the language. Not "unable to compete." Not "rebuilding strategically." Choosing not to. That distinction is enormous, and it is exactly what players and fans who watch bottom-drawer franchises collect revenue sharing checks while fielding replacement-level rosters have been saying for years.

According to the Associated Press, Meyer went further, noting that the union made proposals in the last round of bargaining to change the revenue sharing system to incentivize competition and punish teams who collect those funds without fielding competitive rosters. The league was not interested in negotiating over it. This time, he is promising to make it a centerpiece issue.

Folks, I am on record hating tanking. Always have been. It is the worst thing happening in American professional sports, and it has been tolerated in baseball for too long because it is financially rational for ownership while being a betrayal of the fans who buy tickets and the players who deserve a legitimate chance. What Meyer is describing - a revenue sharing system with real competitive strings attached - is exactly the reform that should have been in the last CBA.

The next negotiation is going to be a battle. But the MLBPA finally has a leader who is willing to name the problem plainly and fight for a solution that actually changes behavior. That's what sports leadership is all about, folks.