Yankee Stadium. Credit: Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock.com.

The top lawyer at Major League Baseball for the past four and a half years is sliding over to the New York Yankees.

An MLB representative who answered the phone number listed on Michael “Mike” Mellis' online New York attorney directory said he starts his new gig in mid-July. Mellis could not be reached for comment. A Yankees representative did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached via phone. An MLB representative referred callers to the Yankees, and a representative could not be reached via email.

In his new role, Mellis will serve as executive vice president and chief counsel for the Yankees, though it was not immediately clear whether this is a new position and what Mellis' duties will be. According to its website, the franchise's front office already includes two legal executives: a chief operating officer and general counsel and a deputy GC and VP for legal affairs.

Mellis had been with MLB for more than 20 years, joining as deputy GC for new media in 1998 and becoming senior vice president and GC at MLB Advanced Media two years later, according to his LinkedIn profile. In that position, he oversaw a suit against MLB alleging it colluded to limit the selling of “out-of-market” live broadcast packages only through the leagues, which led to diminished sports entertainment choices and inflated prices, according to a 2013 Corporate Counsel report. The suit brought by a putative nationwide class of consumer-fans settled in 2016.

He ascended to his most recent position in January 2015, LinkedIn said.

Also according to the social networking site, Mellis, before moving in-house at MLB, had a five-year stint as an associate at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler after a two-year judicial clerkship in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York following graduation from Harvard Law School.