New GM Castro, POBO Smith give glimpse into vision for A's

LAS VEGAS -- After an extensive search for new front office leadership, the Athletics have identified two bright young minds from franchises known for winning to guide this upcoming new era.

It began Oct. 19 with the hiring of Taylor Smith as president of baseball operations. Just over two weeks later, the A’s paired him with Cam Castro, who was officially hired on Wednesday as the club’s general manager.

Before working for the Red Sox over the past two seasons as a senior vice president/assistant general manager, Smith spent seven seasons with the Rays. Castro, meanwhile, arrives following eight seasons with the Brewers, the past two years as Milwaukee’s senior vice president of player development and performance.

These two figures, who have spent most of their careers in baseball with the two teams that just met up in the World Series, are now tasked with melding their knowledge to form a prosperous duo with the A’s. In a press conference Thursday to introduce Castro at the A’s Experience Center in Las Vegas -- set to become the club’s new home city in 2028 -- the two discussed their vision to build a perennial winner together.

“When I took this job, I was very confident that I wanted to bring in a No. 2 to serve as general manager from a player development background,” Smith said. “During the process, Cam really stood out for his depth of knowledge, the clarity of his vision and the past results that he’s been able to realize in the development spaces in Milwaukee.”

Fresh off winning a championship, Castro was not exactly in a rush to leave such a successful situation at the age of 36. But between the history that the A’s carry dating back to the franchise’s inception in 1901 and the new chapter that is set to begin in Southern Nevada after next season, the opportunity was too good to pass up.

“The A’s are one of the very few select legacy organizations in our game,” Castro said. “After each conversation, I found myself more and more excited about this opportunity. … As I spoke with Taylor and others around the game who know him, it became very clear that he has an incredible work ethic, a mission to use great information to acquire and develop great players, and also a vision to develop the strategies necessary to really build a contender for our fans and our community to be proud of. This partnership with Taylor is one I’m really looking forward to and one I think can be really special.”

There were plenty of questions for the A’s new front office combo. Here are some key topics they addressed.

What will the dynamic between the two look like?

There are some obvious shared responsibilities Smith and Castro will have. Smith also laid out some specific areas Castro will be in charge of.

“The plan will be for Cam to oversee both Major League and Minor League development,” Smith said. “Oversight of the Major League staff and the whole development system. Modern player development extends beyond just the fundamental hitting, pitching, fielding and baserunning to the nutrition, strength and conditioning, and to the medical side of things in creating a cohesive unit there to help get our players better both physically and fundamentally. Cam will have oversight of those areas and also partner with me on high-level strategic decisions, what we’re trying to do with the roster, staffing and how we are investing our funds to try to get the best return on the field.”

What was the relationship between Smith and Castro before this partnership?

“A ton of mutual connections,” Castro said. “When you operate across the industry, you’re always trying to keep your ears up for who the really great people are within different organizations. I have always known of Taylor and had the chance to meet him and spend time last year at the GM Meetings. … Between reputation and experience and continued conversation, once we got the chance to go through this process, it just became a no-brainer.”

Bringing the Milwaukee pitching lab to the A’s?

It’s no secret the A’s must improve their ability to develop pitching from the Minors on up, and Castro specializes in pitching, from his time as a throwing trainer at Driveline nearly a decade ago to serving as a pitching coach and Minor League pitching coordinator for Milwaukee before transitioning to the front office.

What aspects of the Brewers’ famed “pitching lab” does Castro hope to bring here?

“Good process,” Castro said. “Taylor talked about quick feedback loops. That has existed in places that we had there, and I think it exists in any healthy development environment, whether it’s a lab, a batting cage, a bullpen mound or an entire practice field. You want to just give players good information and let them know exactly what you’re trying to improve. Why that matters and how that’s going. We’ll build that into every environment that we have here. But it starts with good info, what matters, why it matters and how that’s going.”