David Forst out as Athletics GM; Dan Feinstein named interim

David Forst is out as general manager of the Athletics, per Bob Nightengale on X. Dan Feinstein has been named interim GM. Forst was in the final year of his contract at the time of the move.

What happened

Per Nightengale, Forst's departure arrives at the end of his contract cycle — not a mid-term separation, but the conclusion of a deal that had one year remaining. Feinstein steps into the interim role, though Nightengale's report does not detail the scope of that designation, any timeline for a permanent hire, or what a search process might look like.

The Athletics have not issued a public statement, per the available reporting. This is a report, not a club announcement, and the circumstances beyond what Nightengale described remain unconfirmed.

Why it matters

A general manager departure mid-season — even one arriving at a contract's natural end — reshapes the decision-making structure at a franchise navigating a significant transitional period. The Athletics have already been eliminated from both the AL West division race and the Wild Card race, which means the club is not managing a pennant push. It is managing a roster, a farm system, and whatever comes next organizationally. Those are consequential things to manage under an interim title.

The word "interim" carries its own particular institutional weight. It signals that the seat is occupied but not yet assigned, and that the decisions made between now and a permanent hire will be made under that specific kind of organizational uncertainty. Whether Feinstein is a candidate for the permanent role, or whether the Athletics will conduct a broader search, is not addressed in Nightengale's report.

Who is Dan Feinstein?

That is the question a reasonable Athletics follower asks immediately, and the honest answer from this desk is that Nightengale's report names him and his new title — interim GM — and does not go further. No previous role, no organizational background, no characterization of his tenure with the club appears in the available reporting. What can be said is that he now holds the interim designation, and that any roster or personnel decisions made by the Athletics front office in the near term will flow through that title.

The numbers

The Athletics enter this front-office transition at 64-98 (.395), sitting fourth in the AL West, 17 games back of the division lead. They are eliminated from the division race and eliminated from the Wild Card race, ranked 11th in the Wild Card standings at 20.0 games relative to the cut line. The club is currently on a two-game losing streak.

Those numbers are not a verdict on any single person's tenure — roster construction, player development, and organizational direction involve more variables and more people than any one title can contain. But they are the backdrop against which this change is happening, and they are worth stating plainly.

Where the club stands

With the postseason mathematically out of reach, the Athletics are playing out the schedule in a mode that every baseball organization knows well: games that matter for development, for evaluation, and for the shape of next year's roster, even when they do not move a standings needle.

The upcoming schedule sends the club to Fenway Park for a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Per Nightengale's report, Jack Perkins is the probable starter Friday against Payton Tolle, Gage Jump takes the ball Saturday opposite Jake Bennett, and J.T. Ginn is lined up for Sunday against Erik Miller. Those are the games being played while the front office situation gets sorted out — which is, in its own way, a very baseball kind of simultaneity.

What we don't know yet

Nightengale's report establishes the fact of Forst's departure and Feinstein's interim appointment. It does not address the circumstances of the decision, whether Forst's contract was allowed to expire or whether the club chose not to extend it earlier, what Feinstein's previous role within the organization was, whether the Athletics intend to conduct an external search for a permanent GM, or what timeline — if any — has been set for that process.

It also does not address what this means for any pending roster or personnel decisions. The Athletics, like every club, have ongoing evaluation processes, minor-league transactions, and September roster considerations that will continue regardless of who holds the GM title. Whether Feinstein has full authority over those decisions in the interim, or whether certain moves await a permanent hire, is not reported.

What to watch

The first thing to watch is whether the Athletics follow Nightengale's report with a formal club announcement — one that might include additional detail about Feinstein's background, the scope of his interim authority, and the organization's plans for a permanent hire. A report and a club statement are different things, and the gap between them sometimes contains meaningful information.

Beyond that, the shape of a permanent GM search — if one is announced — will tell observers something about where the Athletics see themselves heading. A franchise playing out a 64-98 season faces a front-office hire with real organizational stakes. Who they look at, how long the process takes, and whether Feinstein's interim role eventually becomes something more permanent are all questions that will develop over the coming weeks.

For now, per Bob Nightengale: David Forst is out, Dan Feinstein is in on an interim basis, and the rest is still being written.