Mark Kotsay Head Coach Of Oakland Athletics is Gone
Bobby Crosby Joins the A’s 2024 Coaching Staff in Oakland Dan Hubbs and Bobby Crosby join the A’s coaching staff
JASON BURKE14.11.2023, 8:00 A.M. EST
For the 2024 campaign, the Oakland A’s have made some adjustments to their coaching staff. The biggest move will be the signing of Bobby Crosby, a former shortstop for the A’s, as the team’s first base coach. He was a coach with the Midland RockHounds in 2019 before taking over as manager of Oakland’s Double-A club in 2021.
The A’s selected Crosby in the first round of the 2001 Draft (25th overall), and in 2004 he was named AL Rookie of the Year. In addition to guys we haven’t yet seen in Oakland like Denzel Clarke and Max Muncy, Crosby has previously coached several of the players that made it to the major leagues in 2023 during his tenure with Midland, including Zack Gelof, Tyler Soderstrom, and Lawrence Butler.
With Crosby, the A’s will gain some big-league coaching experience in addition to using him to strengthen the bonds he has already established with several of the young players the team hopes will make up their next core group.
The A’s have appointed Dan Hubbs as the bullpen coach in addition to Crosby. Hubbs, who spent his first season with the A’s organization as a minor league pitching performance coach last year, has joined the Major League staff. He formerly worked for the Detroit Tigers for two seasons as director of pitching development and strategies. He also has twenty years of Division 1 collegiate coaching experience, having served as head coach at USC for seven years, associate head coach at California for one year, and assistant coach at California for twelve years.
Hubbs will take over for Mike McCarthy, who is no longer with the A’s organization, and Crosby will replace Mike Aldrete, who will work alongside Chris Cron as the hitting coach for the team. Tommy Everidge was named an assistant minor league hitting coordinator after serving in that capacity the previous season. Everidge was a constant source of joy and enthusiasm, which the A much needed during their difficult 2023 campaign.
In addition to serving as the A’s bench coach, Darren Bush has been appointed director of hitting. Scott Emerson will continue to serve as the pitching coach and Eric Martins as the third base coach. Ramón Hernandez will take over as Major League coach and interpreter, while Marcus Jensen will remain as the coach for quality control.
While Hubbs may be the most intriguing acquisition, Crosby is the major addition in this case. To what extent did he contribute to setting the stage for some of Detroit’s pitching comeback? In 2020, his rookie season, the Tigers had the worst ERA in baseball at 5.63, but the season was cut short and there were a lot of other events going on in the world. With a 4.32 ERA in 2021, they rose to 17th in baseball.
This past season, the A’s team ERA was 5.48. Is there any way he could pull off a similar comeback?