BRADENTON, Fla. – The Pittsburgh Pirates have released a statement about Jung Ho Kang, via president Frank Coonelly. Kang was sentenced yesterday in Korea to eight months on a two-year suspension, meaning that if he has no incidents in the next two years, he won’t serve the sentence. Here are Coonelly’s comments:
“Now that Jung Ho’s legal case in Korea has concluded, we will continue to work with him and his representatives in an effort to secure his work visa so that he may resume his career as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We look forward to meeting with Jung Ho as soon as he is able to travel to the United States and having a serious discussion with him on this issue and how he has and will change those behaviors that led to the very serious punishment that has been levied against him in Korea. We will withhold judgment on what Club discipline, if any, is appropriate until we have had an opportunity to have that discussion. We will also withhold from further comment until we have an opportunity to meet with Jung Ho. Regardless of our decision on the disciplinary issue, we will do everything that we can as an organization to assist Jung Ho as he works to change his behavior and grow into the man that we know he can be.”
The key takeaways from this at the moment are that the Pirates have withheld judgment on any discipline for Kang until they’ve talked to him. They also are working with him to secure his work visa at the moment. Don’t expect any update on this until Kang is able to make it to the US and talk with the Pirates.