A front-office shakeup was expected for the Athletics, but maybe, just maybe, GM David Forst was not the name many had circled. If anything, though, there was no saving grace left, given that the Athletics are currently ranked fourth in the AL West with a 45-71 record. That’s 14.5 games behind the division leader, the Houston Astros. It was back in 2020 that the A’s made the playoffs, and since then, they have struggled to cross a .500 winning percentage, except in 2021. So, after 27 long years of hard work, Forst’s time has come.

“The Athletics announced today that the Club and General Manager David Forst have mutually agreed to part ways. Assistant General Manager Dan Feinstein has been named interim General Manager for the remainder of the 2026 season. The A’s will begin a comprehensive search for the next General Manager,” the tweet from A’s Communications read.

“David has been an integral part of the A’s and our success for nearly three decades,” A’s owner and managing partner John Fisher said. “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.”

However, following the announcement, contradicting reports surfaced stating that he was fired. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, “league sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations, characterized it as a firing.”

And this sort of line of thought process makes sense given the performance the A’s have put forth lately. They endured a severe midseason collapse, winning just four of the 20 games they have played in the second half so far. In fact, they are riding a nine-game losing streak.

In the past, though, Forst successfully drafted and brought in young talents like Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom, and Jacob Wilson. But his veteran pitching acquisitions failed to stabilize the roster. Previously, the team’s pitching coach, Scott Emerson, was dismissed in July as the season spiraled.

Fast forward to Friday, after the club arrived at Fenway Park, Manager Mark Kotsay called a team meeting in the visitors’ clubhouse. While the confusion among the players as to why this was happening was soon answered, breaking the news was certainly tough for Kotsay.

The A’s played 10 full seasons under Forst, and won the AL West only once in 2020. They made the playoffs three times in between. The 50-year-old joined the Athletics’ front office as a scout in 2000. Four years later, he became Billy Beane’s assistant GM before eventually succeeding him as general manager after the 2015 season. That’s quite a lot of memories to carry for him.

“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 the release. “This organization is full of incredibly talented, devoted, and good people, and I am lucky to have worked alongside them for so long.”

After Forst’s era, Dan Feinstein will take over as interim GM for the remainder of the 2026 season. However, there are a few more changes needed to make the A’s a contender.

The Athletics need more changes to be a winning team

The A’s are currently ranked 29th in terms of ERA (5.47). This suggests that the rotation lacks a reliable shutdown ace who can consistently eat innings and suppress high ERAs, especially when adjusting to their temporary home park environment in West Sacramento. The front office must aggressively target pitchers with high groundball rates so they can neutralize Sacramento’s hitter-friendly park factors and oppressive summer heat.

While young position players like Nick Kurtz, Zack Gelof, and Shea Langeliers have flashed high-upside offensive power, the team’s current structure prevents them from sustaining success against elite Major League Baseball competition. The A’s are currently ranked 17th in terms of average (.243). Thus, the A’s need to acquire or develop a reliable, productive left-handed hitting outfielder to prevent opposing managers from exploiting late-game right-handed pitching matchups.

With such scenes, maybe replacing the GM would not be enough for the A’s to make it to the playoffs this year. However, Forst might be the first one to make way for the upcoming changes.