The Oakland A's are reportedly going to hire third base coach Mark Kotsay as their new manager. Kotsay will succeed Bob Melvin who was lured away by the San Diego Padres in October.
Kotsay played 17 seasons in the big leagues including with the A's from 2004 to 2007. He also played with the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox finishing his career in 2013 collecting 1784 hits for a lifetime batting average of .276 with 127 HR and 720 RBIs.
After spending the 2014 and 2015 seasons as the Padres hitting coach, Kotsay joined the A's coaching staff serving as bench coach, quality control coach and eventually third base coach. The A's were leaning towards Kotsay but also considered other internal candidates such as A's hitting coach Darren Bush and bullpen coach Marcus Jensen. External candidates included Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Boston Red Sox bench coach Will Venable and Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro.
Kotsay probably won't have a lot of options as the A's are expected to engage in a salary dump once the MLB lockout concludes. It might not be a lot of fun, but Kotsay won't have much pressure on him and he can grow into the role. Kotsay wouldn't have that luxury with most teams. Then again, the A's could dump salary and still find a way to win ballgames and reach the post-season as they have throughout the Moneyball era.
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