Pirates general manager Neal Huntington and president Frank Coonelly on Saturday made the clearest indications yet that they don’t expect third baseman Jung Ho Kang to return to the club in 2018.
“We've gone into this offseason with the assumption that Jung Ho, regrettably, will not be part of our 2018 team, so Neal is building the team under that assumption,” Coonelly told fans attending the team’s PiratesFest on Saturday at PNC Park.
The Pirates entered this offseason with the hopes that Kang could get back into baseball shape — he played winter ball in the Dominican Republic and was recently cut from his team — and eventually be cleared to return to the United States.