A's in Search of New Bullpen Coach

Just a week after announcing their complete coaching staff, the A's have a vacancy to fill.

Garvin Alston, who assumed bullpen coach duties in June, was hired Thursday as the Minnesota Twins' new pitching coach. Alston was a pitching coach and rehab coordinator in Oakland's farm system from 2005-15, then spent 2016 as the Arizona Diamondbacks' bullpen coach.

The A's welcomed him back into the mix in June when they shook up their coaching staff. Curt Young was dismissed as pitching coach, Scott Emerson shifted from bullpen coach to pitching coach and Alston was brought in to assume Emerson's former duties.

It's the first shot at being a major league pitching coach for Alston, 45, who was a 10th round draft choice of Colorado in 1992 and made six relief appearances with the Rockies in 1996, his only big league playing time.

The A's announced their complete 2018 coaching staff last Thursday, with Triple-A manager Ryan Christenson being promoted to serve as Bob Melvin's new bench coach and Chip Hale sliding back into the role of third-base coach. Now they'll need to find a new bullpen coach. The Twins fired pitching coach Neil Allen on Oct. 10 and chose Alston over more experienced candidates they interviewed such as Carl Willis and Jim Hickey.

Sometime in the near future the A's are expected to announce a coaching position of some sort for Mark Kotsay, who began the 2017 season as bench coach but stepped away in June to be with his family after his daughter suffered a serious eye injury.

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