Pirates general manager Neal Huntington will soon enter the second consecutive winter meetings during which he’ll field questions about Jung Ho Kang’s legal issues and availability, while working to find a replacement to spell David Freese if Kang can’t get in the country one year after his DUI arrest in South Korea.
A year ago Saturday, at 2:48 a.m., Kang crashed his rented BMW through a guard rail and nearly hit cars on the opposite side of the street in Seoul. Because of the resulting DUI conviction, Kang’s third in South Korea since 2009, the 30-year-old Pirates third baseman spent the entire 2017 season on Major League Baseball’s restricted list.