Billy Beane, the
Oakland Athletics
’ influential longtime top baseball executive, is taking a new role as a senior adviser to owner John Fisher, the team announced Friday.
It marks a formal handing-off of overseeing baseball operations by Beane, after 25 seasons, to general manager David Forst. Forst has taken on increasing duties in recent years, and Beane said the move is “a transition (that) I think has been on all of our minds over the last 12 months or so.”
Beane will “provide Fisher with guidance on broader organizational matters” and “support the work of baseball operations,” the A’s said in a release. Forst will report to ownership and have authority on baseball decisions that used to run through Beane.
For baseball operations, Beane said on a media call Friday, “I think by definition I will be exactly as it says in the statement, an adviser and hopefully a positive for (Forst) and someone he can lean on.”
Beane, 60, held the title of executive vice president of baseball operations the past seven seasons and was GM for 18 seasons before that. Forst was assistant GM for 12 seasons under Beane before he was named GM.
“This is about not just me transitioning into a new role but also David taking on a responsibility he’s earned as one of probably the top executives in the game, in certainly my opinion,” Beane said.
The role will allow Beane “the opportunity to explore non-baseball sports endeavors,” the A’s said. Beane’s other sports interests include soccer — he has ownership interests in a Dutch club and another in France and said Friday he’s also involved with a data analytics company and a cricket team in India.
“My expectation is that platform will probably continue to grow with some of the partners I’m involved with,” Beane said. “I may have more time to keep up with that, along with my advisory role with the A’s.”
Fisher, in a statement, said: “Billy is and will always be an Athletic. He is a trusted advisor to me and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him on strategic initiatives that impact our Club.”
Beane did not address whether he might become more involved in the A’s efforts to secure a new ballpark. The team has proposed a ballpark project at Howard Terminal in Oakland and is exploring Las Vegas also as a site for relocation. Beane voiced optimism last month that the A’s will secure a new stadium in Oakland but said he doesn’t “work on it personally.”
“If (Fisher) felt like I could be of assistance in anything as relates to the A’s, I’m certainly here for him,” Beane said Friday, adding, “John’s got a lot of business interests beyond the A’s.”
“I’m incredibly grateful,” Beane said. “The idea of not being a part of the A’s for sort of my entire life, I could never imagine that. … I’m very excited about my role and, again, I’m excited to see David sort of officially get to lead the baseball operations.”
Forst, on a media call, said he doesn’t expect the A’s to make a front-office addition to replace Beane. The A’s have three assistant GMs in Dan Feinstein (major-league operations), Billy Owens (player personnel) and Rob Naberhaus (baseball development and technology). Forst said he will “lean on the group we have here, the way I always have, to make decisions.”
“I will still rely on Billy’s advice and ask for guidance on stuff,” Forst said. “I’m looking forward to essentially kind of being able to move forward on stuff without waiting for his sign-off, I guess, but I don’t know how much is going to really change day-to-day.
“Since the day I got here, Billy has been great about increasing my responsibilities, exposing me to more things. … I think he’s done a pretty good job of preparing all of us for this day.”
Hired by the A’s as a scout in 1990, under then-GM Sandy Alderson, Beane became assistant GM in 1993 and succeeded Alderson as GM after the 1997 season. Under Beane, the A’s made the playoffs 11 times from 2000 to 2020, winning the AL West seven times. Beane’s tenure leading baseball operations did not result in a World Series. But the A’s use of analytics to contend despite low payrolls contributed to transforming the sport, as captured in “Moneyball,” the book and later movie with Beane as a central figure.
“So much has changed about who is working in baseball over the last 20-plus years,” Forst said. “He has a lot to do with how the game is evaluated and how we see things.”
Forst takes over baseball operations with the A’s coming off of a 102-loss season. He said the A’s are “looking to add a number of players to the team” this offseason.
“Whether that’s through trades or free agency, we’ll see,” Forst said. “But we’ve put in a lot of time … trying to narrow down our options and hope as we get through the holiday here and get to the winter meetings that we’re able to start making some moves.”
Three non-tendered:
Oakland did not tender contracts to right-hander Deolis Guerra, left-hander Jared Koenig and infielder David MacKinnon. Guerra missed the season after Tommy John surgery, while Koenig was 1-3 with a 5.72 ERA in 10 games (five starts) over four separate stretches with the A’s. MacKinnon, claimed from the Angels in August, was 0-for-13 in six games with Oakland.
Susan Slusser contributed to this story.
Matt Kawahara covers the A’s for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matthewkawahara
