Athletics, longtime general manager David Forst mutually part ways
The Athletics and longtime general manager David Forst have mutually agreed to part ways, the team announced Friday. Assistant general manager Dan Feinstein has been named the interim general manager.
“David has been an integral part of the A’s and our success for nearly three decades,” A’s owner John Fisher said in a team-issued statement. “His leadership, dedication, and commitment to this team have helped shape our baseball operations department and position us for the future. We are grateful for everything David has done for our organization.”
Forst had been with the organization since 2000, but his contract was up at the end of the season. This spring, he remained non-committal when discussing his future after the team’s scheduled move to Las Vegas ahead of the 2028 season. A’s front office executives will need to move to Las Vegas when the team relocates from Northern California, and Forst and his family were comfortable in the Bay Area.
“Our conversations, they started last year, we’re continuing to have them,” Fisher said in March. “David and his team — Billy Owens, Dan Feinstein, Rob Naberhaus and others — have done a really great job.”
Forst originally joined the A’s as a scout in 2000 and was named one of the team’s assistant general managers in 2004. He quickly became one of then-general manager Billy Beane’s most trusted lieutenants. After the 2015 season, Beane was promoted to executive vice president and Forst took over as GM. He remained general manager even after Beane moved into a senior advisor role.
During Forst’s time as GM, the A’s reached the playoffs three times (2018-2020), but it has been mostly downhill since the second half of the 2021 season. After missing the playoffs in 2021, the A’s traded away several stars before the 2022 season, including Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt. Sean Murphy followed those players out the door the following offseason.
The A’s lost 100 games for the first time since 1979 in 2022 and followed that up with an Oakland-era franchise-worst 112 losses in 2023. The team improved to 93 losses in 2024 and 86 losses last season, its first in West Sacramento. After a solid first two months this season, the A’s have imploded the last two months and are currently 45-70 going into their series opener against the Boston Red Sox. Since June 26, they’ve won just five games while dealing with a myriad of injuries.
“It was truly an honor to spend the last 27 years with the A’s, especially the last 11 as the GM,” Forst said in a statement shared by the team. “This organization is full of incredibly talented, devoted, and good people, and I am lucky to have worked alongside them for so long.”