Athletics make decision on if GM David Forst will return in 2026

Athletics general manager David Forst will be back in that job next year, he tells Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. His previous contract ran through 2025. It was reported last week that he and the A’s were in discussions to keep him around. It now seems he and the club have worked out a new pact of some sort, though he didn’t provide any specifics.

Forst was hired as a scout for the A’s back in 2000 and moved up the front office ranks over the years. After the 2022 season, he took over the top job in the front office when Billy Beane moved into more of an advisory position.

So far, Forst’s tenure has seen the club in rebuild mode. They went 60-102 in 2022, the year before he was hired. That record dropped to 50-112 in the following season but has been ticking up since. The A’s won 69 games last year and got up to 76 here in 2025.

Ideally, Forst can help the club take another step forward in 2026. The A’s have a bit of momentum, as they went 35-29 in the second half this year. What remains to be seen is what kind of resources he will have to work with in building the 2026 roster. Last offseason, multiple reports indicated the A’s needed to get their competitive balance tax number over $105M or else they would risk a grievance from the MLB Players Association related to their revenue-sharing status.

That prompted the A’s to throw some money around. They signed Luis Severino and José Leclerc to eight-figure deals, acquired Jeffrey Springs and gave extensions to Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler.

RosterResource pegs their 2025 CBT number at $118M, though that number is slated to be just $77M next year. Arbitration raises for players like Shea Langeliers and JJ Bleday will bump that up, but only slightly, as both of those guys will be qualifying for arbitration for the first time.

Could Athletics throw more money around this winter?

If the A’s have to hit a similar CBT target in 2026, then we could see them doing some more spending this winter. The starting rotation would be a natural target since that was a weak point for the club in 2025, though finding pitchers to take their money will be a challenge. The A’s are playing in a minor league facility as they await the construction of their new home in Las Vegas. No free agent pitchers will have the A’s atop their wish list. The industry consensus is that the club had to overpay to lure in Severino and he still publicly complained about his plight.

Perhaps that will lead the A’s to take on money in trade or sign a few more extensions. Per Gallegos, Forst says he has had “a lot of conversations” with ownership about the possibility of extending young players like Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson.

Kurtz came up this year and had just about the best debut that anyone could have hoped for. He hit 36 home runs in just 117 games. His 30.9% strikeout rate was certainly high but he also walked at a strong 12.9% clip. The result was a .290/.383/.619 batting line and 170 wRC+.

He wasn’t called up until late April but seems highly likely get a full year of service time anyway. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, top prospects can be retroactively awarded a full year of service time if they finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting. Kurtz is the industry favorite to win the award in the American League this year.

That would still leave the A’s with five years of club control but it would mean Kurtz is slated to hit free agency after his age-27 season, instead of age-28. That greatly increases his earning power since teams greatly value that youth.

Some large extensions have been given out to players this early in their careers. Guys like Julio Rodríguez, Jackson Merrill, Roman Anthony and Corbin Carroll have received nine-figure guarantees with less than two years of service time. However, those players offered more value via their baserunning and defense than Kurtz, who is a first baseman without speed. Yordan Alvarez is perhaps a closer analogue as a bat-first player. He got a $115M extension from the Astros in 2022, though he was a bit further along in his career and just a few months away from qualifying for arbitration.

Wilson will be between one and two years of service this winter, meaning he will also be five years away from free agency. He only hit 13 home runs this year but showed exceptional contact skills. His 5.2% walk rate was subpar but his 7.5% strikeout rate was miniscule, about a third of the league-wide average. That helped him slash .311/.355/.444 for a wRC+ of 121.

He provides more defensive value than Kurtz as a shortstop but his reviews at that position aren’t strong. He was credited with -10 Defensive Runs Saved this year and -2 Outs Above Average. Regardless, FanGraphs still credited him with 3.5 wins above replacement this year and it’s possible his glovework can improve over time.

If the A’s are happy with the contributions from Kurtz and Wilson so far and if they are facing a similar grievance threshold this offseason, then exploring extensions makes plenty of sense. Though as is always the case in these situations, it takes two to tango and the players would have to be on board as well.

Gallegos also relayed one other detail relayed to the A’s, noting that Butler was playing through a patellar tendon strain in his right knee in the final few weeks of the season. He will visit a doctor, presumably soon, to see if surgery is required.