NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- About one month ago, Mark Kotsay was being considered for the New York Mets' manager job.
"I did go through the process. I was engaged," Kotsay told NBC Sports California on Monday at the MLB Winter Meetings. "The A's gave me permission to go through the interview process."
Ultimately, the Mets chose Carlos Mendoza as their manager, and just days later, the A’s exercised a 2025 club option on Kotsay’s contract. That was just fine with Kotsay.
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"I've been happy here," he said. "I'm an Oakland Athletic, through and through. I want to see this thing forward."
Right now, Kotsay is the only person under contract to the A’s for 2025. None of their players are yet signed past 2024, and the team also doesn't have a home secured after then, pending their relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas.
"This organization, with what we're going through -- the uncertainty and the future -- to entertain that opportunity to go to New York, for my family for the stability, I chose to go through that process," Kotsay said.
That process did two things.
Oakland Athletics
First, it gave Kotsay an interview experience to "learn from," with unique questions and conversations outside Oakland. It could serve him well in another similar interview opportunity next winter or beyond.
Second, it confirms the individual respect around baseball for Kotsay, despite the A's 110-214 record across the last two years.
"From an industry perspective, it felt good to be part of that process," Kotsay said. "It doesn't feel good to sit here as a 50-win manager and losing manager for two years. I'm definitely motivated to get to spring training and build on what we did the last two months of the [2023] season."
Kotsay seems attached to his young group, which established itself in the second half last year, with the likes of Zack Gelof and Esteury Ruiz as foundational players for the future.
But a future, where, after 2024?
"My preference is to stay in the Coliseum," Kotsay said. "I said it last year -- I'll continue to talk about it. This fan base, they do come to support the players. They do come with a passion. I would prefer to stay there.
"You never want to speculate, because things change, things happen. But my preference would be to stay in the Coliseum."
Watch Brodie Brazil's full Mark Kotsay interview from the MLB Winter Meetings