Coonelly will be Pirates president

The 47-year-old labor lawyer will take over Kevin McClatchy’s duties.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Frank Coonelly, a top labor lawyer in the commissioner’s office, has been selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates to become their next team president, according to the only other known finalist for the job.

Chuck Greenberg, a Pittsburgh-based lawyer whose group owns three successful minor league clubs, was told by Pirates controlling owner Bob Nutting that Coonelly was the choice.

“As a Pittsburgh guy and a Pirates fan, I would have loved being part of turning the franchise around and seeing the Pirates win championships again,” said Greenberg, whose group owns the Pirates’ Double-A Altoona and Class A State College farm clubs. “But I wish Frank Coonelly only the best.”

Fox Sports initially reported Saturday that Coonelly was Pittsburgh’s pick.

Denial

“It is premature to make any formal announcement relating to our search for a new team president because it would be unfair to the other candidates,” Nutting said in a statement Tuesday.

The 47-year-old Coonelly will oversee the Pirates’ day-to-day operations and have the job previously held by Kevin McClatchy since 1996.

McClatchy, the Pirates’ primary owner from February 1996 until January, announced two months ago he would resign as chief executive officer at the end of the season.

Coonelly was a lawyer at Morgan Lewis & Bockius who worked as an outside counsel for baseball’s Player Relations Committee until he and Rob Manfred — baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations — moved from the law firm to the commissioner’s office in 1998.

Coonelly has been extensively involved in labor negotiations with players and umpires, salary arbitration and making recommended assessments of player value for free agents and amateur draft picks.

Described by colleagues in baseball as intelligent, motivated and a rugged negotiator, Coonelly seems a logical choice for a small-revenue club that traditionally has one of baseball’s lowest payrolls.