A’s adopt manager Mark Kotsay’s suggestion.

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.