Jon Daniels removes himself from Athletics' GM search, per USA Today

Jon Daniels is not pursuing the Athletics' general manager vacancy. Per USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the former Texas Rangers executive has removed himself from consideration, choosing to remain in his current role as a senior advisor in the Rays' baseball operations department rather than return to the demands of running a major league front office.

What happened

Per Nightengale's reporting, Daniels informed the Athletics he would not pursue the position, citing a preference to stay put with Tampa Bay and spend more time with his family. Daniels has been with the Rays' baseball ops department since November 2022, and by all indications, that arrangement suits him fine.

This marks the first time Daniels had been publicly connected to the Athletics' search at all, per Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors — meaning his candidacy opened and closed in the same news cycle, which is either a very efficient process or a very short chapter, depending on your perspective.

Why it matters

Daniels spent 2005 through 2022 leading the Rangers' front office, first as general manager and then as president of baseball operations. His name carries weight in the industry, so his removal from consideration does narrow the field of high-profile candidates, even if he was never formally in it.

The Athletics, per the reporting, have been casting a wide net. Names previously linked to the search include former Washington Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo, former Houston Astros GM James Click, Boston Red Sox assistant GMs Mike Groopman and Taylor Smith, and Athletics assistant GM Billy Owens. That range spans former top executives, current lieutenants from other organizations, and an internal option — which suggests the club has not yet settled on a profile for the role.

Nightengale had reported two weeks ago that the Athletics wanted a new front office leader in place before the end of the regular season. That deadline has now passed without an announcement, per the MLB Trade Rumors report. The club would presumably want to resolve the question sooner rather than later, given the volume of organizational decisions that flow from whoever eventually takes the seat.

Where the club stands

At 64-98 (.395), the Athletics are fourth in the AL West, 17 games back of the division lead. They have been eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, carrying an 11th-place Wild Card ranking, 20.0 relative to the cut line, with a two-game losing streak to close out the calendar. Whoever eventually steps into the GM role will inherit a roster that has spent the better part of this season well outside the playoff picture — which is, in its own way, a clarifying condition for a front office search. There is no urgency of a pennant race to navigate around. There is only the rebuild, and the question of who will design it.

The GM search does not exist in isolation. It is the central decision from which roster construction, player development philosophy, and the next competitive window will all eventually follow. Earlier this week, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer was activated from the injured list by the Athletics after recovering from a serious injury — a small piece of roster news against a much larger backdrop of organizational uncertainty. Jeffrey Springs, meanwhile, has expressed uncertainty about his own future with the club after a difficult 2024 season, per earlier reporting. Those are the kinds of personnel questions that tend to stack up while a front office chair sits empty.

What we don't know yet

The Athletics have not announced a hire, and the reporting does not indicate how close the club is to one. It is not known whether any of the previously named candidates — Rizzo, Click, Groopman, Smith, or Owens — have been interviewed, offered the position, or removed themselves from consideration as Daniels has. The timeline for a decision remains unclear now that the end-of-season target has passed without resolution.

What to watch

The remaining candidates on the reported list represent meaningfully different backgrounds: Rizzo and Click bring experience running entire front offices at the major league level; Groopman and Smith are current assistant GMs in Boston whose public profiles are less fully defined; Owens is an internal option who already knows the organization. Whether the Athletics prioritize continuity, outside perspective, or proven top-of-the-org experience will say something about where they believe they are in the rebuild and how quickly they think they can move.

Separately, the Angels' situation is worth monitoring in parallel. Per MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger and other reporters, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said his status is unchanged for now, describing things as "still kind of status quo" while acknowledging the situation could shift within the next day. The Angels' loss to the Mariners dropped their record to 62-100, the first 100-loss season in franchise history. Suzuki was hired last winter on a one-year contract, which means he is technically already a free agent, making any decision about his future a relatively uncomplicated one for the organization to make whenever it chooses. It is hard to assign the season's results to a manager working with a roster the reporting describes as flawed, but the organizational math is what it is.

Stan Kroenke's purchase of the Angels is expected to receive league approval, per the reporting, though not for a few months. John Mozeliak's future as interim general manager also remains unclear. The Angels, in other words, have their own front office questions to sort out — just with a different set of names and a 100-loss season as the backdrop.

For the Athletics specifically, the next development to watch is a GM announcement — or the next name added to the reported candidate list. The search, per everything available, continues.