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Frank Coonelly

Pirates Expected To Hire Travis Williams As Team President

By Dylan A. Chase | October 23, 2019 at 1:21pm CDT

Just hours after announcing the exit of Team President Frank Coonelly, the Pirates have reportedly identified new leadership. Travis Williams, former Chief Operating Officer for the crosstown Pittsburgh Penguins, will be named as Pittsburgh’s new prez within the next week, per a report from Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (link).

Williams has been working as the President of Business Operations for the NHL’s New York Islanders since last November, following eleven years spent working in the Penguins organization (including eight as the club’s COO). According to the Penguins’ website, Williams was chiefly involved with the oversight of “day-to-day business and arena operations”; Mackey indicates that the Pirates organization might expect their new President to focus more on similarly business-centric concerns, which would mark something of a departure from Coonelly’s active hand in day-to-day baseball operations.

Interestingly, Williams’ professional profile with the Penguins also included work as the team’s liaison with building manager (and entertainment monolith) AEG. Williams’ strong background in arena development and event operations could have been viewed as an asset in the eyes of Pirates owner Bob Nutting, who was reportedly dissatisfied with declining attendance under Coonelly’s watch.

Before entering the professional sports industry, Williams was partner at global law firm Reed Smith LLP. The Indianapolis native holds degrees from both Penn State and Duquesne. Mackey suspects that the team will withhold an announcement on Williams’ hiring until Monday.

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Pittsburgh Pirates Frank Coonelly

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Pirates, Team President Frank Coonelly Part Ways

By Anthony Franco | October 23, 2019 at 9:25am CDT

The Pirates and Team President Frank Coonelly have mutually agreed to part ways, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (The organization has since announced the move). Coonelly, 59, had been with the organization since 2007. The club will name Coonelly’s replacement next Monday, adds Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). While Coonelly was responsible for the hiring of General Manager Neal Huntington just a month after the former came on board, Heyman adds that Huntington’s job remains safe.

Mackey reports that Pirates owner Bob Nutting was, unsurprisingly, significantly involved in today’s move. Nutting has become increasingly dissatisfied with the Pirates’ attendance, Mackey adds, although he also notes it difficult to gauge how much blame Coonelly should shoulder given the team’s underwhelming performance in recent seasons. Nutting himself, of course, has come under fire at times for the club’s payrolls, which consistently sit among the bottom third of the league.

This season was an unmitigated disaster for the organization. Not only did the team fall flat on the field, limping to a 69-93 record, it dealt with significant issues off it. Clubhouse discord bubbled to the surface and was leaked to the public, to say nothing of the heinous criminal acts allegedly committed by one of the organization’s highest-profile players. Coonelly certainly doesn’t deserve blame for all of the franchise’s woes, but it did seem that something of a house cleaning was in order, and Coonelly follows fired manager Clint Hurdle out the door.

It’s not yet clear what ramifications, if any, this will have on the Bucs’ baseball operations. 2020 could certainly be a make-or-break year for Huntington, at least. The organization is making changes both above and below him in the pecking order, so questions about his future as GM figure to persist in the coming months.

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