Mark Kotsay Will Manage the Athletics in 2026, Right?

While some on the outside will look at the A's 179-307 record the past three seasons and draw their own conclusions about the A's skipper, those that have been with Mark Kotsay on a daily basis have nothing but respect for the job he has done.

Not only did he inherit a team that had just traded away every core piece from their last competitive team in 2021--including Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Sean Murphy, and Chris Bassitt--he was also the only member of the organization that was front and center during all of the relocation news. Kotsay was forced to answer questions about decisions he didn't play a hand in making.

Last year, the A's had a 19-win improvement from the previous season, and saw a number of players start to put things together, most notably Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday in the outfield.

Following a 69-93 season, the A's have higher hopes for 2025, even stating at the end of last year that the goal for this coming campaign will be to finish at .500 and to be playing games that mean something in September.

To help the team reach that goal, the front office has gone out and brought in Luis Severino on a three-year, $67 million deal, traded for lefty Jeffrey Springs, signed veteran third baseman Gio Urshela and reliever José Leclerc, and even extended DH Brent Rooker.

The A's now have some upside and depth.

Kotsay is currently signed through this season, and is set see his contract expire once the season ends. Both GM David Forst and Kotsay have given the impression that there is mutual interest in bringing the manager back, with Kotsay even saying last year that he wants to see this rebuild through.

But if you're the A's, do you take a beat to see how this season goes? We know that Kotsay is respected by his players, and that he is most likely the right guy for the job, but what happens if the team underperforms in 2025 and Kotsay is already extended?

We have seen Kotsay do his best with a bad hand, but what happens when the cards he has are halfway decent and there is some level of expectation? Getting to watch Kotsay for the past three seasons, A's on SI believes he'll meet that challenge and excel, but if you're a franchise with so much riding on having success in the immediate future, they have to be certain they have the right guy.

The A's are set to play in a minor-league facility for at least the next three, if not four seasons. From there, the plan is to head to Las Vegas where their proposed ballpark will be waiting for them. In the lead-up to that move, the team is going to have to be firing on all cylinders, and in order to be able to afford to make necessary additions, the A's will need to maximize how much they make in Sacramento.

A team that isn't competitive will lose some of its appeal in Sacramento, and when you add in the heat factor in the summertime, those prices will need to be a bit more affordable to watch a 65-win club rather than an 82-win team.

The expectation is that Kotsay will get his deal, but if you're the A's, do you wait just a little bit to make sure he's the right guy for the next phase?