Oakland A’s announce 2020 coaching staff

The Oakland A’s announced their 2020 coaching staff on Thursday.

There is one new addition to the staff, as Eric Martins rises up from the minor league ranks to take the role of assistant hitting coach. That fills the spot opened up by the departure of former third-base coach Matt Williams, who left a couple weeks ago to take a manager job in Korea. The rest of the names are the same as last season, though a couple roles have changed.

• Manager: Bob Melvin
• Bench: Ryan Christenson
• 1st base: Mike Aldrete
• 3rd base: Al Pedrique
• Pitching: Scott Emerson
• Bullpen: Marcus Jensen
• Hitting: Darren Bush
• Asst Hitting: Eric Martins
• Quality Control: Mark Kotsay

The role changes come on the bases. Pedrique was the first-base coach last year, but he shifts over to third base now. Aldrete was the assistant hitting coach last year, and he moves to first base. Aldrete was previously the team’s third-base coach from 2016-17.

Christenson and Kotsay return after being linked to managerial jobs with other teams. Christenson interviewed for the Pirates, and Kotsay was contacted by Pittsburgh as well. Kotsay also interviewed for the Giants, but was declared out of the running for S.F.’s job on Thursday.

As for the new guy, Martins has been a coach on the A’s farm since 2015, mostly at the Triple-A level. Before that he was a scout for the organization for the better part of a decade, and his signings include current star Matt Chapman. Martins gets glowing reviews for his coaching work in the minors, as noted by Slusser, Gallegos, and Lockard.