It’s unclear where the A’s will be playing in 2025, but manager Mark Kotsay has a spot in the dugout.
The team announced on Tuesday morning that Kotsay’s contract has been extended through 2025. That eliminates a potential lame-duck situation next season, which very likely could be the team’s final one in Oakland. MLB owners are expected to vote next week on the A’s bid to relocate to Las Vegas. Even if the move is approved, a new stadium is still several years away, and the location of the franchise’s home base following next season is very much up in the air.
Kotsay, who turns 48 next month, just completed his second season as the A’s manager. He was promoted from third base coach when Bob Melvin departed for the San Diego Padres following the 2021 season, signing a three-year deal that included this club option for 2025.
Kotsay inherited a team in massive transition — all of the biggest stars have been traded off the past two seasons and the Las Vegas relocation efforts have hovered like a dark cloud over the franchise — and the results, not surprisingly, are reminiscent of an expansion team. The A’s are 111-214 ( a .340 winning percentage) under Kotsay and have lost 100 games in each of his two seasons, but things easily could have been worse. The team has used 104 players since Kotsay took over, including 56 rookies. This season, 24 different pitchers started at least one game for the A’s, who in 2024 almost certainly will rank last in MLB payroll for the second season in a row.
Despite being 103 games under .500 as a manager and winning just 50 games this season, Kotsay interviewed for the New York Mets manager job and had been linked as a possible candidate to replace retiring Dusty Baker with the Houston Astros.
“Mark’s leadership, character, and integrity have been a hallmark of his time with the A’s; first as a player and a coach, and, for the last two years, as our manager,” A’s general manager David Forst said in a release issued by the team. “Picking up his option was an obvious decision to make for our club, and I look forward to having him lead the A’s on the field through 2025 and hopefully beyond.”
Kotsay played 17 seasons in the majors, including four with the A’s from 2004-07.
He has been on the A’s coaching staff since 2016, first as bench coach, then quality control coach (2018-20), and third base coach in 2021.
