NEW YORK — Bruce Meyer was promoted to deputy executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association on Wednesday after leading the union’s negotiations during a 99-day lockout that ended in March.
Meyer, 61, a longtime sports law attorney and litigator, was hired in August 2018 as senior director of collective bargaining and legal. Rick Shapiro, who headed negotiations in 2016, left the union in July 2019.
Meyer led the union through contentious and often acrimonious negotiations to start the 2020 season following the pandemic, then headed strained talks during baseball’s ninth work stoppage, the first since the 1994-95 strike.
This year’s lockout ended with an increase in luxury tax thresholds (accompanied by a new highest tier of penalties), a boost in the minimum salary from $570,500 to $700,000, a new $50 million bonus pool for younger players, expansion of the designated hitter to the National League, 12 postseason teams instead of 10, advertisements on uniforms starting next year, a balanced schedule that reduces intradivision play starting in 2023 and measures aimed to incentivize competition and decrease rebuilding, such as an amateur draft lottery.
In other moves Wednesday, Ian Penny was promoted to senior adviser to union head Tony Clark and Matt Nussbaum replaced Penny as general counsel, a move up from his previous role as deputy general counsel. Jeff Perconte was promoted to deputy general counsel from assistant general counsel.
Penny, 58, joined the baseball union staff as a senior labor attorney in 2010 after working at the National Labor Relations Board from 1988-00 and the NHL Players Association for a decade. He succeeded David Prouty as general counsel in 2017.
Nussbaum, 44, was hired by the baseball union as assistant general counsel in 2011 after three years at the NHL union and was promoted to deputy general counsel in 2017.
Perconte, 44, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, was hired by the union in 2017 as an assistant general counsel.
Also, former pitcher Kevin Slowey was promoted to senior director of player services from director of player services, a role he had held since 2015. And former pitcher Chris Capuano was promoted to senior director of operations, business and strategy, up from the director of operations role he held since 2019.