Skip to content

Pirates president: Kang has exhausted all his chances

Rick Osentoski / USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates won't accept any further off-field incidents from Jung Ho Kang.

With Kang still awaiting a visa to enter the United States again after a third DUI in his native South Korea, Pirates president Frank Coonelly is warning the infielder he is on his last legs with the organization.

"He doesn't have any other chances," Coonelly told the Tribune-Review's Chris Adamski on Thursday. "Whatever number of chances he has had, he has exhausted all of them."

Related: Pirates president unsure if club will discipline Kang for DUI

Kang was handed a suspended eight-month jail sentence earlier this month for the DUI, meaning he will avoid time in prison if he keeps a clean record for two years. Though he was cleared to return to the Pirates' spring training camp after receiving his sentence in court, he was reportedly denied a visa to re-enter the U.S. and the club placed him on the restricted list, all but assuring he wouldn't be with the team for Opening Day.

Coonelly also admitted the Pirates were unaware of Kang's previous two DUIs before signing him in 2015, and the club may have reconsidered offering him a contract had they discovered his criminal record beforehand.

"Even though it hasn't been a public matter, we still should have dug deeper," Coonelly told Adamski. "Would it have made us make a different decision? Maybe. (But) we didn't know about it."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox