A's Reportedly Expected to Make Decision on New GM This Week

The Athletics have been on the hunt for a new person to lead baseball operations since they fired former GM David Forst just after the trade deadline. Five names have been in the mix previously, but on Tuesday morning, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic added a couple more. 

Philadelphia Phillies president of business operations Sam Fuld and Chicago Cubs assistant general manager Jared Banner are two names reportedly in the mix that have not been mentioned already. 

Rosenthal also says that the A's are expected to make a decision this week. 

Fuld played for the A's in 2014 and 2015, playing 180 games with the club while they were based in Oakland. The Stanford graduate was the Phillies GM from 2021 to 2024, but took on a smaller role with the franchise the past two years while receiving his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

The idea behind the higher education was that he would be well-suited to run his own baseball team one day. The A's could be that team.

Banner's experience is more in the realm of scouting, player development, and administration. These are all facets that the A's will need to improve moving forward.

One question that hasn't been answered is whether the organization will be hiring a president of baseball operations and a GM, or just one of those roles. Forst was technically the A's POBO, but retained his previous GM title, despite the level of responsibility he had running the organization. It's common for a franchise to have one person in each role, which would be an upgrade for the Athletics.

In addition to Fuld and Banner, the A's have been previously linked to James Click, former Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, A's assistant GM Billy Owens, and Boston Red Sox assistant GMs Mike Groopman and Taylor Smith. Each candidate brings their own strengths to the A's open role, and the clubhouse is certainly keeping an eye on which direction the franchise is headed. 

Once a hire is made, the lingering question will be what will happen to manager Mark Kotsay's role with the club. He's signed through the 2028 season, but also holds a 318-489 record. The majority of the time when a new front office executive is brought in, they choose their own manager, but the A's clubhouse would like to see Kotsay return in 2027. 

Kotsay mentioned a couple of times during the final week of the season that his focus once the GM is named will be on building that relationship with the new hire. If the team goes with Owens, that relationship is already built in. 

While Fuld played for the A's for two seasons, Kotsay made his return to the A's coaching staff following the 2015 campaign, which was Fuld's last season.