The reason for Mark Kotsay of the A’s dedication to baseball is because “losing sucks.”

During his walk around the team’s Winter Meetings suite with President of Baseball Operations David Forst, Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay stopped, turned around, and then resumed his trek.

The query he had heard: Forst was questioned by a reporter why the A’s are even making an effort to improve at this time.

“May I respond to that one?” After interrupting, Kotsay responded, “Because losing stinks.”

From there, Forst took over, telling Kotsay, “He’s why.” He puts in a lot of work. The coaches also do this. The players also do this. Additionally, as a major league team, we play 162 games and provide a product. We ought to be attempting to improve ourselves.

Despite having a small pool of genuine big-league players and built-in excuses like inexperience, Kotsay was not happy with the team’s early-season performance in the previous season. He and the staff got to work, emphasizing better fundamentals. Although the team did not set any records for the most losses in Major League Baseball, it did have the worst season ever in the Bay Area.

“As a coaching staff, we had the option to keep our heads down and work through it or lift our chins and teach these kids how to play,” Kotsay remarked after the team’s very difficult start to the season. “To be honest, to accept responsibility for it, I believe that as a staff we did that—we helped turn the season around from what could have been a historically awful season to a bad season.”

Kotsay’s achievement led to an interview with the Mets for the manager position; however, he has since returned to Oakland with a contract extension that runs through 2025. It’s likely that Oakland will finish last in the league once more, that the team will continue to have poor players, and that the team’s move to Las Vegas and the uncertainty surrounding their playing location from 2025 to 2027 will dominate headlines regarding the A’s.

This is a hefty order for a manager who is fiercely competitive. Kotsay is rising to the occasion.

We’ll get an opportunity to truly develop and grow with some of these young, promising players, Kotsay added. However, with guys like Zack Gelof, Lawrence Butler, and Tyler Soderstrom, as well as the younger players who were there to start, we demonstrated growth in August and September. We are enthusiastic about this nucleus and believe we can develop something with it.

Similar to the front office, which has to persuade free players to sign with a team that doesn’t have a permanent home from 2025 to 2027, Kotsay has a lot of worry as a result of the MLB’s approval of the Las Vegas transfer.

He declared, “It doesn’t really affect anything.” “Obviously, the 2024 and 2025 seasons are my main priorities. creating a culture here that, in my opinion, people want to be involved in and are proud of.

One of the more captivating base stealers since Elly De La Cruz, outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who stole 67 bags in 80 attempts, is among the youthful players. If Ruiz can reduce his strikeouts and increase his walk number, he might be a valuable asset and one of the team’s big draws for supporters who haven’t (understandably) dropped by yet.

In 2001, Kotsay shared the stage with Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson and made a clear analogy. “Rickety could pilfer a base at any time.” Esty is capable of stealing a base at any time. He has the chance to reach base and score on a single hit; a sacrifice fly will also be enough if he can steal second and third. It is a very useful tool that has the power to alter the course of a game.

The crew has also looked into other things that could be beneficial for Ruiz, especially with his swing.

“The most important thing, in my opinion, is that we can improve his offensive mechanics,” Kotsay stated. “I believe we can give him a little more power and bat speed.” It is obvious that the player must participate in and desire to make such adjustments, and in my opinion, he does. He will need to go through a process, but we’ve determined what, in our opinion, makes him an even greater impact player.