CLEVELAND — As his daily Spring Training press conference began on Tuesday, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona said that he didn't think it was the appropriate time to address the team's handling of allegations against former pitching coach Mickey Callaway.
"I know there's probably a lot of questions today about what was written in The Athletic and I fully respect that," Francona said. "I know the organization is putting out a response. Out of respect to that and the Major League Baseball investigation, right now is just not the right time to respond to some of the questions I'm sure you have. I do hope at some point we are able to --because I think we need to. Just know that we take this very, very seriously. I apologize but that's kind of where it is today."
Further pressed on the subject in ensuing questions, Francona later added: "Nobody's ever deliberately covered up for anybody, I can tell you that, OK?"
Francona's comments come hours after The Athletic published a new report detailing what the Indians knew about Callaway, who MLB is currently investigating after a February report that unveiled allegations of misbehavior toward women during his time as the manager of the New York Mets and pitching coach in Cleveland.
While Indians president Chris Antonetti previously said he was unaware of any inappropriate behavior of Callaway's until reading the February report, Tuesday's report states that Francona, Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff confronted the then-pitching coach about an affair he was having with a married woman in 2017.
According to Tuesday's report, an Arizona man contacted MLB and the Indians after discovering that Callaway was having a consensual affair with his wife and had sent her "explicit photos and at least one lewd video." According to one former team employee, Antonetti, Chernoff and Francona discussed the matter with Callaway, while a Cleveland area lawyer representing Callaway told the woman in a recorded phone call that the Indians were upset with Callaway and that he "sensed" the pitching coach had been fined more than $100,000.
In a statement provided to The Athletic, the Indians denied disciplining Callaway and said: “In June of 2017, we received reports from a man alleging extramarital contact between Mickey and his wife over a two-year period. Within days of the report, we spoke with Mickey about the alleged behavior, and he maintained that the relationship was consensual and outside of the workplace. Following our conversation with Mickey and to our knowledge, there were no further complaints of misconduct from this person during Mickey’s tenure with the club.”
The Indians said they plan to release a statement on the matter.