A’s hire Mark Kotsay to fill managerial vacancy

The Oakland Athletics have closed down their manager search, hiring Mark Kotsay to lead this team moving forward. 

Over in the AL West, there’s a new man in charge for the Oakland Athletics. On Monday, MLB insider Jon Heyman has reported that the A’s have made their choice and they’re going with Mark Kotsay as the team’s new skipper.

Kotsay had emerged as serious candidate earlier in the week, per reports. Now, things are being made official, as Kotsay will go from the club’s third base coach to manager. Oakland fans are big-time fans of this move.

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Kotsay of course is no stranger to Oakland. Prior to joining the team as a coach, he suited up for the A’s for four seasons. From 2004-07, the former outfielder and first baseman posted 525 hits, 38 homers and 224 RBI.

In total, Kotsay spent 17 years in the bigs, playing for the Athletics, Marlins, White Sox, Red Sox, Braves and Brewers. The transition to coaching was a smooth one for him, and he’ll now be tasked with getting Oakland back in a spot to compete for division titles. Folks are tired of watching the Astros have all the fun.

Per reports, the A’s were down to six candidates for their manager job, but in the end, it looks like Kotsay was able to do more than enough in his interview to lock things down. A’s supporters will be ready to see what he can get done in his first year at the helm in 2022.

Kotsay will be taking over for Bob Melvin, who stunned so many people this offseason when he decided to leave the Bay Area to take over as new manager for the San Diego Padres.