Pirates part ways with team president Coonelly

The Pittsburgh Pirates parted ways with team president Frank Coonelly and will name his successor early next week, the club announced Wednesday. The decision to move on from Connelly comes a few weeks after the Pirates fired manager Clint Hurdle after nine seasons. The team also announced earlier this month that pitching coach Ray Searage and bench coach Tom Prince would not return next season.

Coonelly, 59, has been with the Pirates since 2007. Prior to joining Pittsburgh, he served as the senior vice president and general counsel of labor in the MLB commissioner's office. "I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for Frank. I will forever be grateful for his tireless work ethic on behalf of the organization, as well as his and his family's commitment to making a positive impact in our community," Pirates chairman of the board Bob Nutting said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Frank and I both agreed that it was clear a change in the day-to-day leadership of the club is needed. This leadership transition gives us the opportunity to refresh our entire operations. Internally, the organization is energized as we prepare to introduce our new president on Monday, while we continue to work to identify a new field manager and build our coaching staff." The Pirates made three consecutive postseason appearances from 2013-15 but finished under .500 in three of the past four seasons. Pittsburgh posted a 69-93 record in 2019 to reside 22 games behind National League Central champion St. Louis.

"The second half of our season was disappointing to our fans and to all of us in the organization. Results matter and our results simply were not acceptable. It was clear that change was necessary," Connelly said in a statement. "As we worked through a comprehensive assessment of everything that we do, I undertook an honest self-evaluation. While not an easy conclusion to reach, I ultimately decided that the best interests of the Pirates would be served if the club had a new leader who would bring new ideas and a new direction."

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