Former Red Sox player hired as Oakland A’s manager

A former Boston Red Sox player is the new Oakland A’s manager

The Oakland A’s will have a new skipper in the dugout next season who has ties to the Boston Red Sox. According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the A’s have hired Mark Kotsay as manager.

The Red Sox acquired Kotsay in a midseason trade with the Atlanta Braves in 2008. Boston was looking to add an outfielder when J.D. Drew was placed on the injured list but Kotsay also provided valuable depth at first base when Mike Lowell was sidelined with an injury, shifting Kevin Youkilis across the diamond to third base.

Kotsay was a free-agent following the 2008 season but when he didn’t find the offers he expected, he returned to the Red Sox on a one-year deal. Kotsay was designated for assignment in July and dealt to the Chicago White Sox a few days before the 2009 trade deadline in exchange for outfielder Brian Anderson.

The struggling Anderson had recently been demoted to Triple-A Charlotte but he finished the season strong in Boston, hitting .294/.381/.647 with two home runs in 21 games.

Kotsay finished his tenure with the Red Sox hitting .241/.288/.335 in 49 games split between parts of two seasons.

After a brief pitstop in Milwaukee during the 2011 season, Kotsay wrapped up his career with two seasons in San Diego.

Kotsay was hired as the hitting coach for the Padres in 2015 before joining Oakland’s coaching staff the following year. He spent four seasons playing for the A’s during his 17-year career and most recently served as the third base coach in Oakland last season.

Oakland shockingly allowed Bob Melvin to leave for San Diego in October without receiving any compensation in return despite that the two-time Manager of the Year was under contract for the 2022 season. The A’s interviewed several candidates to replace Melvin, including Red Sox bench coach Will Venable, before going the internal route by promoting Kotsay.

Venable will return as the bench coach for the Red Sox next season, according to a coaching staff announcement by the team this week.

The Red Sox have 11 coaches listed on their staff under manager Alex Cora. Pitching coach Dave Bush, bullpen coach Kevin Walker, third base coach Carlos Febles and game planning coordinator Jason Varitek join Venable as the other returning coaches from last year’s staff.

Boston has promoted Peter Fatse to hitting coach while hiring Luis Ortiz and Ben Rosenthal as assistant hitting coaches. Minor league infield coordinator Andy Fox has been promoted to the role at the major league level. Mike Brenley moves from being the bullpen catcher to a major league staff assistant. Ramon Vazquez will be the new first base coach after serving as a coach/interpreter for the last few years.

Venable might get an opportunity to manage a club at some point but for now, it’s Kotsay’s turn in Oakland.