Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay (7) keeps an eye on the game against the Chicago Cubs in the eighth inning at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
A’s manager Mark Kotsay, despite having the worst winning percentage among major league managers over the past 80 years, is reportedly one of the few candidates to become the next New York Mets manager.
SNY reported the 47-year-old Kotsay is “in the mix” for the Mets’ managerial vacancy, along with frontrunner Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza.
Counsell is the Mets’ preferred manager to replace fired Buck Showalter but the Brewers are trying to keep him around for a 10th season and beyond. Counsell has also interviewed with Cleveland and is drawing interest from Houston after Dusty Baker’s retirement.
The extent of Kotsay’s candidacy in New York is not clear but the Mets were obviously impressed with how he managed to keep his players competing hard and their spirits up during the worst season in Oakland’s 55-year history.
Kotsay’s record of 110-214 in his two years with the A’s – including last year’s MLB-worst 50-112 mark — makes his .340 winning percentage the majors’ worst in more than 80 years. But it’s much more an indictment on Oakland’s ownership and front office than the man charged with leading the team on the field. That’s apparent when MLB’s highest-payroll team is interested in plucking the manager away from the sport’s lowest-spending organization.
Kotsay is signed through the 2024 season – which could the A’s final one in Oakland — with a team option for 2025. Should Kotsay emerge as the Mets’ choice it’s not known whether the A’s would ask for compensation.
Meanwhile, the A’s made a couple of pitching moves Thursday as they declined right-hander Drew Rucinski’s $5 million 2024 option, making him a free agent. The 34-year-old was signed out of Japan to return to the majors but he had a disappointing 2023 season in Oakland, going 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in 18 innings.
Oakland, though, did reportedly retain left-hander Sean Newcomb by agreeing to a one-year, $1 million contract. Newcomb worked 15 innings for a 3.00 ERA for the A’s after being acquired in a minor deal with the Giants in August.
Newcomb becomes just the second A’s player with a signed contract for the 2024 season – Aledmys Diaz is earning $8 million in the final year of his 2-year, $14.5 million free-agent deal signed after leaving Houston.
Originally published at Jon Becker