A's considering adding a GM beneath new president Taylor Smith

The Athletics finalized the hiring of Taylor Smith as their new president of baseball operations, and at Smith's introductory press conference, owner John Fisher suggested the club could also hire a general manager to work beneath him as the No. 2 front office executive, per Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors, citing Martín Gallegos of MLB.com.

What happened

Smith's hiring was finalized on Monday, capping a search that had been building for several days. At the introductory press conference, Fisher floated the possibility of adding a GM to the structure — a layer of front office architecture that would place a dedicated general manager under Smith's oversight rather than leaving the president of baseball operations to run the department alone.

Per the report, that kind of two-tier arrangement is an increasingly common structure around MLB. It is also, notably, one the Athletics themselves have used before.

Why it matters

The organizational context here is worth unpacking. For years, the A's operated with Billy Beane as the top executive and David Forst as his lieutenant — the exact president-plus-GM configuration Fisher is now reportedly considering. That structure held until the end of the 2022 season, when Beane transitioned to an advisory role and Forst assumed full baseball operations autonomy. Forst then ran the front office on his own for three and a half seasons before Fisher made a change at the beginning of August, when it had become clear the club was headed toward a fifth consecutive losing season.

So the A's are not exactly charting unfamiliar waters here. They are, in a sense, reportedly considering a return to a model they ran for years — with a new president at the top and, potentially, a new general manager filling in the organizational chart below him.

Whether that GM search materializes, and who might be targeted, remains unconfirmed. Fisher's comments at the press conference were framed as a possibility, not a club announcement.

Is manager Mark Kotsay's job safe?

Yes, per the report. While many front office overhauls carry at least the ambient threat of a managerial change — the new boss wants his own guy, the theory goes — that is not the situation here. In February 2025, the Athletics signed Kotsay to an extension running through the 2028 campaign, with a club option for the following season. Smith expressed enthusiasm about the partnership at his introductory press conference, saying Kotsay appears to be someone who welcomes every piece of information the front office can provide, and that he expects the two of them to work well together, per the report.

That is about as warm a public endorsement as a new president of baseball operations can offer a manager he inherited. Kotsay enters his sixth year as skipper with his contract intact and, apparently, his new boss already on board.

The numbers

The backdrop against which all of this is unfolding: the Athletics finished 64-98 (.395), sitting 4th in the AL West and 17 games back in the division. They were eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, and they enter the offseason on an L2 streak. Their Wild Card ranking sits at 11, 20.0 relative to the cut line.

Five straight losing seasons is the organizational reality Smith is walking into. The potential addition of a GM would give him a dedicated partner to help address a roster that has significant ground to cover.

Where the club stands

At 64-98, the Athletics are in the kind of position where the offseason is not a break so much as the actual work. The front office structure — still being assembled, per the report — will shape how that work gets done. Smith is in place. A GM may or may not follow. Kotsay is under contract through 2028.

A week removed from the front office change that brought Smith aboard, the club is now in the early stages of figuring out what the rest of the leadership structure looks like before the offseason roster decisions begin in earnest. Shea Langeliers has surfaced as a reported trade candidate this offseason, per earlier reporting — a signal that the new front office will face meaningful decisions quickly, regardless of whether a GM is added beneath Smith.

What we don't know yet

Fisher's comments were a suggestion, not a commitment. Whether the A's will actually conduct a GM search, how quickly that process might move, and who might be considered are all open questions. The report does not name any candidates, attach a timeline, or characterize how seriously the organization is pursuing the idea beyond Fisher's public remarks.

It is also worth noting that the president-of-baseball-operations model — without a separate GM — has become a legitimate organizational choice for many clubs. The A's could just as easily decide Smith runs the department alone, as Forst did for three and a half seasons. Nothing in the report forecloses that outcome.

What to watch

The first thing to monitor is whether the A's formalize a GM search or quietly let the idea recede. If Smith moves quickly to fill out his front office, a hire could come before the offseason's major transaction windows open. If no GM is named heading into the winter meetings, it may signal the club has decided to operate with Smith at the top of a flatter structure — at least for now.

Beyond the org chart, the roster decisions themselves will be the early test of how Smith intends to run things. With the club coming off a 64-98 season and a reported trade candidate already surfacing, the new president of baseball operations will not have long to settle in before the offseason asks something of him.