The Oakland Athletics on Monday reportedly hired a new manager to replace Bob Melvin, selecting former Boston Red Sox outfielder and first baseman Mark Kotsay. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported the news, and it was confirmed by Matt Kawahara of The San Francisco Chronicle.
Kotsay, who played parts of two seasons with the Red Sox in 2008 and 2009, was an internal candidate to replace Melvin, who moved on to manage the San Diego Padres earlier this offseason. Kotsay was working as the team’s third base coach.
He also played four seasons in Oakland (2004-2007) as part of his 17-year MLB career.
Kotsay appeared in 49 games for the Red Sox over parts of two seasons, hitting .241 with 17 RBIs and 10 doubles.
His coaching career began in 2015 with the Padres, where he worked as a hitting coach, and he then became the A’s bench coach in 2016.
While it ended up being a former Red Sox player in the end, the A’s reportedly chose Kotsay over current Red Sox bench coach Will Venable, who was one of seven candidates that interviewed for the gig.
The A’s were the final team to fill a managerial opening, following the New York Mets’ hiring of Buck Showalter. The St. Louis Cardinals also have a new skipper with Oliver Marmol — MLB’s youngest manager — hired in October.
