Chuck Greenberg, who was interviewed for the job of president of the Pirates, said yesterday he was told by chairman of the board Bob Nutting that he would not get the position and that the Pirates "have selected Frank Coonelly."

Greenberg, owner of the Pirates' farm teams in Altoona and State College, said he received the phone call from Nutting Monday.

"First and foremost, I'm a Pirate fan," Greenberg said, "and, as a Pittsburgh guy who's lived and died with the Pirates my whole life, I would have thoroughly enjoyed helping to turn the franchise around and restoring the Pirates to what they were when I grew up."

Nutting yesterday issued a statement that echoed remarks he made Saturday when word of Coonelly's getting the job leaked.

"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 the statement.

There has been no evidence, however, that there are any other candidates.

"As I have stated in the past, Frank Coonelly would be an exceptional choice," Nutting also said in the statement. "He is an extremely bright, very capable and a well-respected baseball executive. His experience and leadership would be very well suited for the president's role. The Pirates would be extremely fortunate to have him."

They most likely will have him.

"He'll bring a lot of energy to that franchise," said Jerry Reinsdorf, the chairman of the board of the Chicago White Sox. "He's not run an organization before, but he's had the opportunity to see how a lot of organizations are run."

Coonelly is Major League Baseball's chief labor counsel and is closely aligned with Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice-president for labor relations and human resources.

Coonelly has helped teams prepare salary-arbitration cases. He also is the architect of MLB's "slotting" process, which recommends the amounts of signing bonuses for picks in the June amateur draft.

"That was his job," Reinsdorf said. "Now he has a different job."

Coonelly's expected hiring dovetails with comments Nutting made while discussing the hiring process a few weeks ago.

"We need someone who understands the landscape of major league baseball clearly -- whether that means they come from a team background or the commissioner's office," Nutting said.

He also said in that interview that he was confident the name of the new president would not be a surprise to people -- at least those people in baseball.

Baseball people also should recognize the name of the "final successful candidate" for the Pirates' general manager's job.

One of the candidates could be Ruben Amaro Jr., who has been the assistant general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies the past nine years. Amaro last week interviewed for the Houston Astros' general manager's position.

Coonelly, who lives near Philadelphia, certainly is aware of Amaro's abilities.

As of early yesterday afternoon, Amaro had not been contacted by the Pirates.

Tony LaCava, who lives in Oakmont, also could be in the mix. LaCava, who has had a number of jobs in baseball, currently is the Toronto Blue Jays' director of player personnel.

Another name that surfaced yesterday is Frank Wren, assistant to Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz. Wren almost took the Pirates' general manager's job in 2001 but decided to remain with the Braves.

A source said yesterday the Pirates' hiring Wren this time around "would be a stretch."

Greenberg, 46, can remember the Pirates' championship teams in the 1970s and the teams that won three consecutive division championships in 1990-92.

"But it's not about who runs the Pirates," Greenberg said. "What matters is that the Pirates start winning championships again. And I sincerely wish Frank the best of luck in getting it done."