A's Pick Up Manager Mark Kotsay's Option

After interviewing for at least one managerial vacancy, Mark Kotsay is staying in Oakland

The Oakland A's have announced that they've picked up Mark Kotsay's option for the 2025 season. The team had granted permission to the skipper to interview for the New York Mets job last week, but they ultimately hired Carlos Mendoza.

After Kotsay navigated the A's group of young and inexperienced players through arguably the hardest year for any team in at least two decades, the club decided to show a sign of confidence in Kotsay past the 2024 season by picking up his option. 

While some may point to the A's 50-112 record and ask how in the heck Kotsay just got another year added to his deal, the 2023 season was not his fault. The front office constructed the roster and ownership set the budget. Those played a lot more of a role in the outcome of the season than Kotsay's ability to pick correctly between two relievers with a 6.50 ERA. 

Not only was he not set up for success, but ownership also dropped a relocation announcement in his lap and then disappeared, leaving Kotsay to field questions from reporters all season long. It was the combination of the bad team with the relocation announcement that made this a difficult season to deal with.

Despite that, or maybe because of how he handled those challenges, Kotsay was getting inquiries from other clubs. That had to lead the front office into thinking that they should probably do Kots a solid by picking up his option--especially with other teams asking to interview him. 

"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,” said General Manager David Forst. “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."

With Kotsay leading the way for the next two seasons, the big question now becomes: Where will the A's be playing in 2025?