A’s extend manager Mark Kotsay’s contract for team’s stay in West Sacramento
The Athletics are hoping to have Mark Kotsay in place as manager for the entirety of their planned stay in West Sacramento.
The A’s on Monday announced the club extended Kotsay’s contract through the 2028 season with an option for 2029. That means, should their Las Vegas stadium plans remain on track, Kotsay will be managing the team throughout its three- or four-year stay at Sutter Health Park with a chance to lead the team as it moves to Las Vegas in 2028 or 2029.
Kotsay, 49, has managed the A’s for three seasons and has a 179-307 record while the team went through a roster rebuild during its last three seasons in Oakland. The team is coming off a 69-93 finish to the 2024 season that included going 32-32 after the All-Star break.
The A’s believe their young roster has a chance to hit its stride in West Sacramento and remain competitive in 2025 with the additions of Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs to the top of the starting rotation and Gio Urshela at third base. The team also signed slugger Brent Rooker to a five-year, $60 million contract after he hit 39 home runs with 112 RBI last season, earning him a Silver Slugger nod at designated hitter. He finished 10th in MVP voting.
The typically low-spending A’s made significant investments into the roster this offseason. Severino’s $67 million contract was the largest in the club’s history while Rooker’s wasn’t far behind. The team is set to receive a 100% share of the league’s revenue sharing for the first time since the latest collective bargaining agreement was signed in 2022, which required the A’s to spend 150% of what they bring in from revenue sharing.
Kotsay played in the big leagues for 17 seasons, including four at center field for the A’s. He played for seven teams and had arguably his best season in 2004 when he hit .314 with a career-high 15 home runs.
Kotsay became the club’s 31st manager when he was hired in December 2021 and initially signed a three-year deal through 2024 with a club option for 2025. The team exercised that option after the 2023 season. He’s the team’s sixth manager over the last 39 years joining Tony La Russa (1986-95), Art Howe (1996-2002), Ken Macha (2003-06), Bob Geren (2007-11) and current San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin (2011-21).
The A’s announced last April that they would temporarily move to West Sacramento after they could not reach an agreement to extend their lease at the Oakland Coliseum before it expires in 2024. The club plans to break ground on a $1.75 billion domed stadium on the Las Vegas Strip during the second quarter of 2025. They plan to open the stadium in 2028 but have an agreement to continue playing in Sacramento through 2028 if it is not ready.
The A’s will share Sutter Health Park, which has a capacity of 14,000, with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, the top minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The A’s in January announced they had sold out of season tickets for their first season in the capital region.
