Pirates President Frank Coonelly Gives Kyle Stark, Larry Broadway Vote of Confidence

The Bob Nutting Detective Agency has been quiet for over a month on their investigation.

While the majority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates has said nothing about his internal investigation of his team for over a month now, the Buccos President Frank Coonelly has spoken.

Coonelly believes much of the criticism of the Pirates organization is ‘overblown.’   Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror was able to get Coonelly’s take on what went wrong down the stretch as he spoke in Altoona last night.   Pay close attention to the following quote  from Coonelly when you go read Giger’s article or listen to the stream, both of which are linked below…

"“I will tell you that Kyle Stark and Larry Broadway, in my opinion, do a terrific job of developing our young players and work extraordinarily hard on developing first their baseball skills and then also developing them so that they can be good teammates and teammates that have each other’s backs so that they develop a winning mentality as a team as opposed to just individually.”"

Coonelly was in Altoona to speak for the Altoona Curve Booster Club’s annual members-only dinner.

It certainly sounds like the investigation/evaluation is continuing, but we can’t help but think there are only minor changes coming after hearing Coonelly speak.   It surprises me that on October 31 the Bucs are still dragging out the investigation talk.

Coonelly states the Pirates went back and looked and discovered their minor league affiliates were in the “top five in cumulative base running stats, bunting stats, and moving runners from one base to the other.”

But after Coonelly made such a quote about Kyle Stark and Larry Broadway, do you really have any doubt about the line in the sand?  It seems obvious that Coonelly is fully behind Stark and Broadway, so if they get the ax, could one can conclude there is a mutiny on the North Shore?

We said it way back when the Hoka Hey BS broke, the Pittsburgh Pirates organization needs one consistent voice.  One message.    If it’s not the President who the hell is it?  Why would Coonelly need to add ‘in my opinion?’  We think Coonelly must feel something, or hasn’t discussed Stark and Broadway with the ownership.  Why else couldn’t he simply say, it’s over, we looked at the numbers, and are moving forward.

Coonelly is a bright guy, it seems to me like he’s getting jerked around on this.  He doesn’t seem as confident when he adds ‘in my opinion’ to a comment. No shit it’s your opinion Frank, it’s your quote.  You’re the man.  Always have been the man.

Let’s put it this way.  If Coonelly isn’t the end all, be all, decision maker of the Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Club just who is?

Bob Nutting?

God help us all.

The Cory Giger Show begins stroking Coonelly at the 1:13:30 mark.

Here is the link to Giger’s story for the Altoona Mirror