CLEVELAND — Cleveland Indians President Chris Antonetti joined Terry Francona for the manager's daily Spring Training press conference on Wednesday.
But while Antonetti acknowledged the recent report from The Athletic regarding the team's handling of allegations of misbehavior against former pitching coach Mickey Callaway, the team president said that he was unable to further address the situation.
"We are fully cooperating with the investigation," Antonetti said. "As many of you who were on the call when the first Athletic article surfaced, I answered every question I could at that point in time until there were none left. I am hopeful that there will be a time when I can again do that. Unfortunately, today is not that day, again, due to the investigation that is ongoing."
Last month, The Athletic published an article detailing allegations of misbehavior committed by Callaway during his time as the manager of the New York Mets and pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians. Following the report, Antonetti held a press conference with reporters in which he denied being aware of any allegations against Callaway until the report surfaced.
A new report published by The Athletic published on Tuesday, however, disputes that, with a former team employee claiming that Antonetti, Francona and general manager Mike Chernoff confronted Callaway about his behavior after the team was contacted by a man whose wife had a consensual affair with and received "explicit photos and at least one lewd video" from the then-pitching coach.
Asked on Wednesday if he stood by the comments he made last month, Antonetti replied: "I very much want to answer that. I just at this point, I'm not able to. The last time we had talked, the investigation had not yet started so I had more latitude with what I was able to share. With the ongoing investigation, the most important thing is that the investigation is able to maintain its integrity, its thoroughness, its impartiality and I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize that investigation. And as importantly, we look forward to learning what that investigation reveals so that we can address everything in totality and not in piecemeal."