The Minor Leaguer Mark Kotsay Is Looking Forward to Seeing With the A's

Following a 64-98 season, the Athletics are looking ahead to 2027. After a year of injuries, the club is hoping to make some moves this offseason to bolster the pitching staff, and then be where they had expected to be this past season — contending for a postseason berth. 

While players like Tommy White, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, and the late-season additions to the A's bullpen received looks on the roster, there were still some players that were making their climbs up the system to put themselves in position to potentially debut in 2027. 

At the end-of-season press conference the day after the season ended, Athletics Roundtable asked manager Mark Kotsay and interim GM Dan Feinstein which players in the minors stood out to them.

"Devin Taylor is a kid that obviously has an accelerated path," Kotsay said. "I would have liked to have seen him go out to the Fall League and get my eyes on him. Unfortunately, he felt like he had had a ton of baseball this year, which he had."

Kotsay also conceded that this was Taylor's first full season in pro ball, which comes with its own set of challenges, but thought that the success the young outfielder showed with the bat put him on the A's radar quicker than anticipated. 

Taylor began the year in High-A Lansing, where he battled the cold for a couple of months, batting .292 with a .425 OBP and six home runs in 57 games. He was promoted to Double-A Midland in early June and warmed up with the weather, slugging 14 home runs and batting .323 with a .409 OBP in 68 games. 

He was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas on September 1 and just continued to hit, adding three more home runs while batting .295 with a .368 OBP. Altogether he hit .308 with a .411 OBP, 23 home runs and 13 stolen bases. 

"And yet, I know there's still a lot of work for him," Kotsay added. "I think the biggest thing for Devin is the speed-agility issue, the athleticism in the outfield, and what kind of defender he can be." 

Earlier in the same call we'd asked about the team's plans for center fielder Denzel Clarke, given that Henry Bolte showed what he could do in center and seemed to take over that spot throughout the year. When you add Tyler Soderstrom back to left field along with Lawrence Butler in right — both of whom are signed to extensions — Clarke would at best be a fourth outfielder.

If you add in Taylor as a potential option later in the season, finding playing time for everyone gets pretty tricky. Taylor is a left-handed bat and plays the corners, so there wouldn't really be a platoon advantage over Soderstrom or Butler at the same spots in the field.