Penny succeeds Prouty as baseball union's general counsel

NEW YORK (AP) Ian Penny is replacing David Prouty as general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association in a transition following a new labor contract.

The 53-year-old Penny joined the union in 2010 after 10 years with the National Hockey League Players Association and most recently served as senior labor counsel. Matt Nussbaum, 39, hired by the union in 2011 as a staff counsel, is being promoted from assistant general counsel to the new position of deputy general counsel.

Former All-Star Tony Clark became the union's executive director following the death of Michael Weiner in November 2013 and led players in bargaining. The sides agreed to a five-year deal in November and are just about done drafting the agreement.

Prouty, 58, was hired by the union in 2008 and in February 2013 became its fourth general counsel following Dick Moss (1966-77), Donald Fehr (1977-04) and Weiner (2004-13). He will work with the players' association going forward as an outside counsel.

''The work of preparing for the next CBA starts as soon as the ink is dry from the previous negotiation,'' Prouty said in a statement. ''Now is a good time for a change, both for me and for this great organization. I look forward to continuing to work on a variety of MLBPA issues.''

---

More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball