Oakland Manager: 6 candidates (source)

OAKLAND – Having narrowed their roster of candidates, the Athletics are moving forward in the search for their new manager.

The interview process is underway, with a source confirming to MLB.com that Mark Kotsay has already met with the club’s management. The talks are expected to continue in the coming weeks.

MLB Network analyst Ken Rosenthal reported that Oakland’s list of candidates to be interviewed includes Darren Bush, Matt Quatraro, Puerto Rican Joe Espada, Wil Venable and Marcus Jensen.

Kotsay has been seen as the ideal candidate to replace Bob Melvin, who left the position of manager of the Athletics after 11 years, in which he became the winningest manager in club history, to fill the same position at San Diego this offseason. After playing 17 years in the majors, including four with the Athletics between 2004-2007, Kotsay has been rising in his career as a coach.

Quatraro, who has been the Royals’ bench coach since 2018, has also been linked to the Mets for the managerial vacancy.

Espada, 46, has been praised for his player development skills after stints with the Astros and Yankees. Espada has ties to the Atléticos, after being selected by them in the second round of the 1996 amateur draft and spending five years on the club’s estates.

Venable, 39, retired as a player in 2016 after a nine-season career and was hired in 2017 by the Cubs as an assistant to Theo Epstein. He has been a starting and third base coach in the last two seasons and joined the staff of Puerto Rican Alex Cora in Boston in 2020.

Bush (hitting coach) and Jensen (bullpen coach) are other insider options, having spent several years as part of Melvin’s team. Both have managerial experience in the club’s minors.

There is no time limit for the Athletics decision. Asked about the issue at the General Managers’ Meetings last month, he gave the