Don Kelly’s status with the Pittsburgh Pirates was not impacted by his ties to the Houston Astros, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Friday.
Kelly, a former Mt. Lebanon and Point Park standout, was named the Pirates’ bench coach Dec. 7, five weeks prior to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred disciplining the Astros for using video to steal opponents’ signs in recent seasons. Kelly was Houston’s first base coach last season under manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, each of whom was suspended for one year by Manfred and subsequently fired by the Astros.
The New York Mets and Boston Red Sox also fired their managers — Carlos Beltran and Alex Cora, respectively — because each previously worked for the Astros and were named in Manfred’s report.
The #Astros and #RedSox held their annual fan fests, and instead of discussing preparations for the season, players from both teams were left to answer questions about the sign–stealing that left them without managers https://t.co/Eg1RJve05H
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) January 19, 2020
But speaking to reporters from PNC Park on Friday, Cherington said the connection to the Astros scandal would not have any impact on the status of Kelly or Oz Ocampo, who was hired earlier this month as a special assistant to Cherington.
In broader terms, Cherington said he didn’t know if there would be further fallout from the sign-stealing revelations.
“I believe the game has always, is now and should always be about the players on the field and the incredible things they can do individually and then collectively to win games,” Cherington said. “We should protect that as much as we possibly can.”
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said outside of possible stricter guidelines for watching video during games, he doesn’t expect the situation to linger or have too many effects.
“I don’t really think the fallout is going to be anything because the commissioner has acted,” Shelton said. “He gave his penalties. From there, we kind of move forward. The one thing he did say and was pretty clear on was that he was going to be harsh. He was definitely harsh. People got the message, and we move forward.”
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