There are two main things to grasp from this news release. One, this a was mutual break up. Coonelly was not exactly “fired” because of the Pirates’ disappointing performances over the past four seasons. He too, wanted out. In fact, I would speculate that he wanted to move on more than the Pirates and Bob Nutting wanted him to.
Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghsports.com reported that Coonelly could be on his way to the MLB Commissioner’s office which would obviously make for a logical reason for his departure.
The second paragraph from Coonelly in the news release is also telling.