He signed a two-year contract with the A's on January 13, 2006 to fill a void in the broadcast booth left by the sudden death of longtime lead announcer Bill King.
It was during this stint in the Pacific Coast League that he would meet his future Oakland broadcast partner, Ken Korach, at the time working for the Las Vegas Stars.
Cotroneo was hired by the Houston Astros in 1991, and remained with them through 1997, calling the action alongside Hall-of-Famer Milo Hamilton.
In 1998, he moved upstate to Arlington, where he called the action for the Texas Rangers[2] for six years, teaming with Eric Nadel on the radio side.
After spending two seasons out of baseball, Cotroneo submitted a sample of his work to A's Vice President of Broadcasting and Communications, Ken Pries.