The Athletics’ search for a new general manager could put the Brewers in a familiar spot: watching another key front-office figure get courted by the rest of the league.
Milwaukee assistant GM Matt Kleine has been a name that keeps surfacing whenever an opening comes up. Over the past year-plus, he’s been linked to opportunities that would have marked a clear step up, including the Nationals’ GM search last offseason, assistant GM jobs with the Orioles and Red Sox, and, in August, the Astros after they moved on from Dana Brown.
Now another job is in play. Along with the Angels, the Athletics are among the clubs seeking someone to steer baseball operations, and Patrick Mooney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently wrote that Kleine is a leading candidate for the A’s opening.
The Athletics fired general manager David Forst in August after he had held the post since 2015. Before that, Forst had been with the organization as a scout since 2000. Dan Feinstein was named interim GM, but the team is expected to run an extensive search for an outside hire.
Kleine’s path looks a lot like Forst’s early climb. He entered the Brewers organization as a scout in 2007, then moved through a long list of roles beginning in 2011: baseball operations assistant, coordinator of advance scouting and baseball contracts, manager of baseball operations, director of baseball operations, and finally assistant GM in 2023.
That kind of resume leaves only one obvious next stop: general manager and/or president of baseball operations. The Athletics could be that place. Kleine’s background across different corners of the front office, along with what he’s helped build in Milwaukee, makes him an appealing candidate.
And if he does leave, it would be another test for a Brewers operation that has already shown it can absorb major departures. Milwaukee kept rolling after David Stearns left for New York, and it also navigated the exits of Ray Montgomery in 2020, Mike Groopman in 2021, and Eduardo Brizuela in 2023.
That’s the price of success. When a front office becomes one of the best in the sport, other teams come calling. Kleine being linked to GM jobs this consistently says plenty about how the league views the Brewers’ operation - and it suggests he’ll get one of these opportunities sooner rather than later.
In Other News...
Brice Turang Gave The Brewers Exactly What This NLCS Opener Needed
The NLCS opener had the feel Milwaukee needed from the start: tight pitching, clean defense, and a crowd that kept leaning into every small break. Brice Turang was in the middle of all of it, helping the Brewers stay attached in a game where run prevention mattered almost as much as run scoring, and where one sharp play or one well-timed swing could change the entire mood.
Turang supplied both. His defense helped Milwaukee navigate an early jam and keep the deficit from growing, then he came through with the kind of home run that can tilt a playoff game and settle a dugout. With the bullpen backing him up and the atmosphere building around him, the Brewers had exactly the sort of jolt they were hoping for in a series opener like this, even if the full impact of that night was still left to be decided. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Won Their Way But One NLCS Concern Just Got Bigger
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Misiorowskis fastball was not fooling enough hitters, and the shortened outing only sharpens the attention on how Milwaukee will handle the rest of this series. The Brewers won the opener anyway, which is the important part, but against a lineup like Los Angeles, they will need more than run prevention and clean gloves if the concern around their young starter grows into a bigger issue. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Murphy Sounds All In On Jackson Chourios October Moment
As the Brewers turn their attention to the Dodgers, Pat Murphy made it clear that Jackson Chourio has been one of the defining reasons Milwaukee has been able to keep its October run alive. The left fielder has stood out for the kind of all-around impact that matters most this time of year, with Murphy pointing to his steady defense, consistent approach and knack for coming through when the pressure rises.
Chourio has also given Milwaukee needed production at the plate in the postseason, becoming a central part of the offense in key moments. His work so far has already changed the feel of the Brewers October, and with a matchup like this one looming, the attention on what he can do next only figures to grow. [Read more 🡒]