MESA, Ariz. -- Since taking over as manager of the Athletics amid a roster overhaul that took place just before the start of the 2022 season, Mark Kotsay has made it clear that he desires to guide this team fully through a challenging rebuilding process and back into contention.

Entering a new era with higher expectations as they temporarily relocate to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the next three seasons before a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, the A’s are now fully committed to Kotsay as their man at the helm for the foreseeable future.

The A’s and Kotsay, whose contract was set to expire following 2025, finalized a three-year contract extension on Monday that keeps him in charge as manager through the 2028 season, with a club option for 2029.

“I’m very humbled,” Kotsay said. “Outside of the day that I married my wife, I think this is going to go down as one of the best days of my life. … When I started this journey in ‘22 as the manager, all I wanted was to be given a chance to see this thing through. … I want a winning season, and I want to see that happen from this group that I started this journey with.”

Every A’s player and coach, along with owner John Fisher and a front-office contingent led by general manager David Forst, gathered inside the home clubhouse at Hohokam Stadium on Monday morning. During a full team meeting before the club’s first full-squad workout, Kotsay’s extension was announced to the room.

To officially announce the new deal, the A’s set up a press conference in a media room at the club’s Spring Training complex. Upon walking into the room, Kotsay received an unexpected surprise: Every single A’s player and coach was in attendance and greeted him with a standing ovation.

“It’s rewarding to know that this organization believes in me and that they put their faith in me leading this group,” Kotsay said. “I’ve always wanted to lead this group to a World Series championship, and that’s the goal. All of these faces in here can be a part of that group, and I am fully of the mindset that we can make this happen.”

The overall win-loss record in Kotsay’s first three years of 179-307 may not reflect kindly, but the A’s have not wavered in their belief that he is the right man for the job. That confidence stems from the culture Kotsay has established inside the clubhouse while navigating a young and inexperienced team through difficult seasons and uncertainty about where the club would be playing beyond 2024.

“Very few [managers], if any, have gone through what we experienced,” Forst said. “Starting with player transition to stadium transition to city transition. All these things are unique. … I know that there’s stability that Mark brings to the clubhouse. A passion and honesty and integrity that everybody around him knows he believes what he’s saying.”

Through those tough times, the A’s have formed a core of players – a group including Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, Mason Miller, Shea Langeliers, JJ Bleday and Zack Gelof – that led the charge over an encouraging second half of 2024 in which they finished 39-37 over the final 76 games.

That momentum was only boosted this offseason with the signings of veterans such as Luis Severino, José Leclerc and Gio Urshela, as well as a trade for left-hander Jeffrey Springs. Now, the A’s will look to Kotsay – whose passion for the A’s organization was first sparked while he donned the green and gold as a player from 2004-07 before returning in 2016 as a coach – to mold it all together for a club that has generated positive momentum and carries serious aspirations to contend for the playoffs in 2025.

“There’s not a better guy to lead our group and lead our team moving into this new era of Sacramento and then Las Vegas,” said Rooker, who earlier this offseason received a five-year contract extension with a club option for 2030. “He’s a big reason that a lot of us in this room have improved as individuals and as a team. Having him on board for the next several years is extremely exciting for everybody involved.”