Elephant Rumblings: Kotsay Staying Put?
· Yahoo Sports
Happy Thursday everyone!
The World Series is nearly upon us. Just one more day before baseball fans are treated to Game 1 of the Fall Classic between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. Neither team has won the World Series so one way or another, one organization is going to taste the sweet feeling of hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy within the next two weeks.
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And for A’s fans, there aren’t any major former Athletics on these teams (sorry Jorge Mateo and Chad Patrick). Still, there is a sense of comradery among the fanbases. Tampa and Milwaukee have been low-spenders for the majority of their existences, much like the Athletics. Getting to watch one of these low-payroll franchises lift that final trophy will be awesome to watch for A’s fans. A remind that even against the highest-spending teams like the Dodgers and Yankees, any team can win on any day in baseball.
Anyway, now that the A’s have their top voice in the front office, it’s time for Taylor Smith to begin staffing that office. And that’s something that the team is starting on immediately. And based off the comments from yesterday’s presser, it sounds like Smith will be hiring a GM to work under him. That’s not a shock considering that’s how most front offices work in baseball these days. Now we have to see who Smith will tab as his second-in-command.
Furthermore, from that same presser it sounds like manager Mark Kotsay’s job is safe, at least for now:
Taylor Smith and A’s manager Mark Kotsay will have dinner tonight in Vegas. Smith: “From my conversations with Mark so far, he seems like a great guy. Someone who's hungry for all the information we can get [the coaching staff], and I think it'll be a great partnership.”
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) October 21, 2026
That doesn’t sound like someone who is getting ready to make a change in the dugout. There wasn’t a huge expectation that Kotsay would be given his walking papers after the hiring of the next POBO but it was still a possibility. Based off those comments we can expect to see Kotsay in the dugout this spring. How long he lasts will depend on how quickly the team can begin turning things around.
No baseball today but the World Series tomorrow! Have a great Friday Junior A’s fans.
A’s Coverage:
- Athletics Hire Taylor Smith As Next President of Baseball Operations
- A’s bring in Taylor Smith to run baseball operations
- Trade Candidate: Shea Langeliers
- The five biggest questions facing the A’s this offseason
- Inside the A’s State-of-the-Art Las Vegas Ballpark
- Pitching prospect Huggins growing his game with the help of this A’s Hall of Famer
- ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
- A’s LHP prospect Richardson shows off health and resiliency during Fall League homecoming
- Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court
- Important Dates For The Athletics This Offseason
- 12 A’s Players Out of Options Heading Into 2027
- How MLB’s Proposed Changes Would Impact the A’s
- A’s part ways with assistant hitting, quality control coaches
- After an outfield collision left him paralyzed, every gain in rehab is a big win for A’s Ryan Lasko
- Why 2027 Athletics Will Be Completely Different Team
- A’s Las Vegas ballpark cost rises to $2.1B, public funding delayed
- 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
- A’s Hoping Luis Severino Chooses to Stay
- Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
- Drafting The Top AL Graduated MLB Prospects From 2026
- Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
- Athletics 2026 MLB Draft Report Card
- Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
- Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
- 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
- Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app
MLB News & Interest:
- This year’s World Series champ will be a 1st-time winner … either way
- Kurt Suzuki out as Angels manager; interim GM John Mozeliak won’t return in 2027
- Mariners Interested In Jason Kanzler For Managerial Vacancy
- Shohei Ohtani won’t need offseason surgery
- Dalton Rushing to undergo surgery
- Red Sox in need of new first and third base coaches
- Boone spurns calls for culture change; Yankees clubhouse remains a ‘strength’
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Awesome, well deserved!
Devin Taylor and Jamie Arnold have been named the Athletics’ Prospects of the Year by MLB Pipeline 👏 pic.twitter.com/qS1mveSUmJ
— Milb Central (@milb_central) October 21, 2026
Good words from the new guy:
Taylor is ready! pic.twitter.com/Ne5xAdkFGC
— Athletics (@Athletics) October 21, 2026
Who else caught that?
The 1st name that came out of Taylor Smith’s mouth when talking about the pitching staff was Jacob Lopez.
— Straight A’s (@StraightAs123) October 21, 2026
He was more deliberate when mentioning the other guys on the staff, but the way he blurted out ‘Lopez’ with that kind of enthusiasm was definitely interesting