Buck is Back

Post date: Jan 10, 2017 5:23:04 PM

The A's announced following the 2016 season that Buck Showalter would return as manager

On September 14, 2016 the Philadelphia Athletics announced that Buck Showalter would return to manage the ball club, taking over immediately from interim manager Torey Lovullo, who was not retained on the staff.

Showalter skippered the A's from the 2005 season into May of 2014 when he was released after the team got off to a horrendous start.

Joe Maddon took over the helm that year, and the team responded, reaching the postseason. A year ago, the A's won their first Owens/East Pennant since 2007 under Maddon.

However, this season the A's again were playing poorly, and Maddon paid with his job in mid-summer, replaced on an interim basis by Lovullo.

"We had a few potential candidates in mind," said GM Matt Veasey regarding the permanent position. "But Buck was always at the top of my list, and it was really going to be about whether he wanted to come back again."

Veasey approached Showalter with the idea last week after the A's wrapped up the 2016 regular season. A face to face meeting this past weekend sealed the deal.

"We had a number of issues to discuss, especially the direction of the ball club, and the fact that we had changed managers a couple of times over the last couple of seasons," said Showalter.

"I was convinced after our meeting that Matt and I are on the same page, and that this would be a positive working environment again. We always got along before, the fans and players were always great to me. I'm really looking forward to getting together with the ball club when spring rolls around."

Showalter was given a four-year deal, taking him through the 2020 season, and Veasey emphasized during the press conference down at the A's complex on Delaware Avenue that this was a permanent hiring, and that this will be Showalter's team moving forward for the forseeable future.

Coming along with Showalter will be new assistant coach John Russell, as well as new pitching coach Dave Righetti.

"We really wanted to bring in an experienced and proven pitching coach to work with the development of our young arms," said Veasey. "When I brought up Dave's name with Buck, he was enthusiastic, and so we moved to bring him on board."

The rest of the coaching staff was invited back, including bench coach Larry Bowa and hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. They will try to turn around a club that finished an extremely disappointing 9-12-1 during the 2016 season.