New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Major League Baseball announced Friday it will open a Western Office in the Phoenix, Arizona area this season.

The office is meant to provide special attention to and coordination between the Office of the Commissioner and the Major League Clubs in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones.

Laurel Prieb, formerly the Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Milwaukee Brewers, has been hired to run the office as the MLB Vice President for Western Operations and Special Projects. Prieb has 28 years of baseball experience, having worked for the Minnesota Twins before joining the Brewers in 1991. Before serving the Brewers as the VP, Corporate Affairs, Prieb was the club's VP, Communications and then VP, Marketing.

The MLB Western Operations Office will further serve as a point of support and contact for the Baseball Academy in Compton, CA, which currently is under construction, the Arizona Fall League, the Cactus League, MLB's burgeoning business activities in the countries of the Pacific Rim, and international play.

MLB Executive Vice President John McHale, to whom Prieb will report, said: "The Commissioner's Initiative: Baseball in the 21st Century and the expansion of our business and service activities in New York require us to better communicate with clubs in the Western Divisions of both leagues. Laurel is superbly qualified to assist in this effort because of the broad scope of his Major League Baseball experience."