Kang return is bad news

welcomed back into the organization after he was granted a work visa to re-enter the United States despite being convicted of a third DUI early in 2017 in South Korea.

Is it just me or do you also want to avoid driving to a Pirates game out of fear you might run into Kang on the highway? Or, more likely, he runs into you? Literally.

Believe me, I’m all for second chances. We are human. We all make mistakes. But three DUIs? That’s bad enough, and there is much more not to like about Kang. Dashcam footage of his third DUI in December 2016 showed him driving too fast to navigate a right bend in the road, running over the median and careening back on the highway. He was lucky. He could have been killed. Someone else could have been killed. Making matters much worse, he fled the scene and then lied to police about his involvement in the crash.

And the Pirates are eager to get Kang back?

I know, I can’t believe it, either. I’m sickened by it, too. But it shouldn’t be that surprising. The Pirates have been doggedly loyal to Kang despite the DUIs and despite an accusation of sexual assault against him in June 2016 in Chicago.

A little more than a year ago, when the team was anticipating getting Kang back at some point during the 2017 season, Frank Coonelly talked of “putting our arms around him and help him to be the man that we know he can be and that he is now determined to be.” That didn’t happen, of course. Kang’s work visa was denied. The club was left regrettably unprepared without a regular third baseman, a significant factor in its 75-87 record.

In December, GM Neal Huntington spoke about how “huge” it would be to get Kang back this season, but added he didn’t think it would happen. No dummy, Huntington wasn’t going to make the same mistake and leave the team unprepared. He traded for Colin Moran in the Gerrit Cole deal with Houston and wants us to believe Moran is the team’s third baseman of the present and the future. Moran is hitting .296 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 21 games, modest numbers to be sure, although they include a grand slam April 2 that beat the Minnesota Twins.

I’ll take Moran over Kang.

I wouldn’t have said that at the end of the 2015 season. Kang was a fan favorite on a team that won 98 games after hitting .287 with 15 home runs, 58 RBIs and an .816 OPS before a major knee injury in September ended his year. I still can hear the loud, long, loving ovation he received when he was wheeled out during player introductions at PNC Park before the wild-card game against the Chicago Cubs.

I wouldn’t have said it even after the 2016 season when Kang hit .255 with 21 home runs and 62 RBIs and an .867 OPS. The sexual-assault allegation was troubling, but he wasn’t charged because police couldn’t find the woman who filed the complaint to do further questioning.

But now? With all that we know about Kang? Going with Moran is the right call. It’s the only call, actually.

Kang hasn’t played in a Major League game since Oct. 2, 2016, when he went 0 for 4 in a 10-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He sat out last season because of his legal jackpot before playing winter ball briefly in the Dominican Republic. He failed miserably, hitting .143 in 24 games with 31 strikeouts.

Clearly, there are no guarantees Kang will make it back to Pittsburgh.

I’m hoping he doesn’t.