The Pirates have contacted former big league outfielder Mark Kotsay to gauge his interest in their managerial opening, according to an MLB source.
Kotsay, 43, is currently quality control coach for the Athletics, who hired him in 2015 as their bench coach before he moved to his current role in 2017. He has also interviewed for the Giants’ open manager job.
Kotsay appeared in 1,914 games as a player for the Padres, Marlins, A’s, Braves, Red Sox, White Sox and Brewers from 1997 through 2013. He ended his big league career with the Padres in 2013 and joined their front office the following season.
Kotsay is known for having a balance between traditional baseball and the analytic advancements of today. He does not have any MLB managerial experience, but the Pirates have previously said that they would be open to first-time managers for this hire.
Gold Gloves awarded
A pair of Class AAA Indianapolis infielders were selected as 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners on Monday.
Indians third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes won his third consecutive Gold Glove, while Will Craig picked up his first. Both awards honor defensive excellence, the same as those given out in the major leagues.
Hayes, 22, had a .989 fielding percentage in 104 games (103 starts), making just three errors in 287 total chances. Craig, 24, had a career-best .999 fielding percentage (one error) after playing in 111 games (108 starts).
Both fielding percentages were the best at their respective positions, in the majors or minors.
Craig also hit a career-high 23 home runs, the most by a Tribe player since 2005 (Graham Koonce, 23), and had 78 RBIs, the most for the Indians since 2010 (Brandon Moss, 96).
Over his past three seasons, Hayes has just 17 errors in 331 games (872 total chances).
Pirates PR man honored
The Slippery Rock University Media Hall of Fame inducted Pirates director of baseball communications Jim Trdinich as its Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Friday. Pirates play-by-play man Greg Brown inducted Trdinich.
Trdinich graduated from Slippery Rock in 1986 and has been with the Pirates since 1989, winning the Robert O. Fishel Award for public relations excellence for Major League Baseball in 2011.
In his role, Trdinich oversees all interview requests for players and uniformed personnel. He also writes and produces the annual media guide, in addition to game notes during spring training and the regular season.
Jason Mackey contributed to this article.
Nubyjas Wilborn: nwilborn@post-gazette.com and Twitter @nwilborn19
First Published: October 14, 2019, 2:11 p.m.