GM David Forst: A’s Focused On Trades, Upgrading MLB Roster

While the Athletics’ rebuild isn’t over, it does appear that the club has moved out of purely a selling phase as the 2024-25 offseason begins (and the team’s temporary tenure in Sacramento begins).  A’s general manager David Forst told The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea that his front office has already at least touched base with every team except the Dodgers and Yankees, and that “any trade activity we’re discussing is about improving the major league team in 2025, not about trading major league players for prospects.”

This isn’t exactly a new stance, as Forst said in July prior to the trade deadline that the A’s were somewhat putting the brakes on moving any established trade chips.  While this could have been construed as some gamesmanship to get rival suitors to up their bids, the Athletics ended up keeping such notables as Brent Rooker, Mason Miller, and JJ Bleday, despite significant interest from other teams.  The A’s did trade Paul Blackburn (arbitration-controlled through 2025) to the Mets and a longer-term asset in Lucas Erceg to the Royals, though Erceg’s team control through the 2029 season is somewhat undermined by the fact that he is already 29 years old.

While the Athletics had a 69-93 record in 2024, things seemingly started to click for the team’s young core as the season developed.  After a brutal 37-61 record in the first half, the A’s had an even 32-32 mark after the All-Star break, and even delivered a 29-21 mark over the months of July and August.  Rooker was one of the better hitters in the entire league, and Bleday, Lawrence Butler, and Shea Langeliers all showed some intriguing potential elsewhere in the lineup.

The weak links were pretty obvious, as Shea writes that the Athletics’ offseason wish list includes upgrading a porous defense, a starting pitching staff that was one of the worst in baseball, and some help at third base.  A whopping 10 players suited up at the hot corner for the A’s over the course over the 2024 season, but this revolving door combined for a sub-replacement -0.6 bWAR (ranking 28th of 30 teams in third-base production).

As always, Forst will be limited in what he can spend on any new players, though how much the A’s might spend on free agents in general is still up in the air due to the uncertainty surrounding their relocation.  “We have to be active in the trade market until we get a clear sense of how free agents are going to view the possibility of coming to Sacramento.  That’s been the impetus for our reaching out to clubs ahead of free agency starting,” Forst said.

With this in mind, the A’s might well be one of the more aggressive teams in the early stages of free agency, with Forst and company perhaps being keen on acquiring any non-tender candidates or unwelcome contracts that other teams have on their books.  The Athletics have roughly $35.5MM on the books for 2025 (according to RosterResource) though none of that money is actually guaranteed, so some trades or non-tenders of their own could reduce that number.  This gives the A’s some relative flexibility in terms of payroll space, as Forst has said the club is prepared to spend beyond its $63.1MM payroll from 2024.