Some news items came out today regarding the managerial search for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The first one came from Susan Slusser, who covers the Oakland A’s.
The @sfchronicle has learned that A's bench coach Ryan Christenson will interview for Pirates' manager job https://t.co/cImkcSL7Ow
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) October 14, 2019
This one isn’t a rumor as much as it’s news. Ryan Christenson will interview for the job. He’s the current bench coach of the A’s. He has five years of minor league managing experience and two years on the bench for the A’s. The 45-year-old Christenson played parts of six seasons in the majors, ending his playing days in 2004. In between the end of his playing career and first year managing in the minors, he served as a coach and instructor at a baseball training school.
Sam Fuld has been mentioned as a possibility for the Pirates, but today it was announced that Fuld wouldn’t interview for the Pirates, Chicago Cubs or New York Mets. So you can cross his name off that list.
The Post-Gazette is reporting that Mark Kotsay is a candidate for the Pirates. He has been with the A’s since 2015, serving the last three years as quality control coach. Prior to that he worked two years for the San Diego Padres, one in a front office position and one as a hitting coach. Kotsay played in the majors from 1997 until 2013. He has experience as a bench coach, but not as a manager at any level. Kotsay said earlier this month that he is interested in managing in the majors.
