Brad Ausmus has turned down an offer to return for a second season as the bench coach of the Athletics, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). According to Heyman, the former big league catcher is looking to find a front office position instead.
Ausmus only spent a year in Oakland. The A’s tabbed the 53-year-old as bench coach in January, giving first-year skipper Mark Kotsay an experienced hand. Ausmus has five years of big league managerial experience, four with the Tigers (2014-17) and a lone season as an Angel (2019). Kotsay will now have to look elsewhere for his top lieutenant heading into his second year as Oakland skipper.
It was a predictably rough season for the A’s, who tore the MLB roster down the preceding winter to cut payroll. Oakland finished an AL-worst 60-102, a record besting only that of the Nationals. It’s certainly not the way Kotsay would’ve hoped to start his managerial career, although he and the front office were aware heading into the season there’d be plenty of growing pains with a mostly unproven roster.
Ausmus, meanwhile, seems set to land in a baseball operations department somewhere over the coming months. He’s worked in the Padres’ and Angels’ front offices in the past, so a transition back to the executive ranks wouldn’t be unfamiliar.
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