The early-August departure of David Forst -- a longtime staple of the Athletics organization who was first hired in 2000 as a scout and held the role of general manager since 2015 -- left the club conducting its first true GM search in nearly three decades.
The process has been underway for a couple of months now, with owner John Fisher and team president Marc Badain interviewing a number of candidates with varying degrees of experience. A decision is expected to come at some point this month, likely before the start of the World Series on Oct. 23. What remains unclear at this point is whether the A’s will hire a president of baseball operations in addition to a traditional general manager.
Here are some names known to be in consideration for the A’s GM job:
Billy Owens
Owens goes back nearly three decades with the A’s, first hired in 1999 as a Minor League hitting instructor before shifting into the scouting department five years later. He was promoted to director of player personnel in 2010 and gained the additional title of assistant GM in ‘15, and is still currently performing both duties.
For several years now, Owens’ name has come up in GM searches around the league. He certainly is qualified for the job given his resume, and he along with interim GM Dan Feinstein are both strong in-house options.
Mike Rizzo
Heading the Nationals' front office from 2009-25, Rizzo helped build a homegrown crop of stars such that led Washington to five playoff appearances during his tenure, including a World Series championship in 2019. Having also spent over a decade in scouting roles with the White Sox, Red Sox and D-backs, Rizzo brings a wealth of experience as one of the more high-profile names in this search, something that could be high atop the list of desired qualifications for the A’s brass as they prepare to open up a new chapter in Las Vegas in 2028.
James Click
The A’s are plenty familiar with Click from his days with the division rival Astros, for whom he served as GM for a three-year run from 2020-22 in which Houston reached the playoffs all three seasons and captured a World Series title in ‘22. Vice president of baseball strategy for the Blue Jays for the past three seasons, now might be the perfect time for Click to get his second go as a GM.
Mike Groopman
Groopman has spent the past five seasons as an assistant GM with the Red Sox. Before that, he spent four years with the Brewers as director of international scouting and also performed several roles with the Royals. A key figure of Boston’s analytics team, it might only be a matter of time before Groopman runs his own team.