The Athletics have begun narrowing their search for a full-time general manager, and two familiar names are already in the mix.
Former Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and longtime Athletics assistant GM Billy Owens have both interviewed for the job, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. They join James Click as the only candidates publicly linked to the opening so far, though it remains unclear whether Click has actually interviewed.
Nightengale also reported that the A’s “would like to make their hire before the season’s conclusion,” which suggests a decision could come soon. David Forst was let go a little more than a month ago, giving the club time to explore options beyond the names that have surfaced.
Rizzo, 65, spent more than a decade as a scout and scouting director with the White Sox, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks before joining Washington as an assistant GM during the 2006 season. He was promoted to interim GM after Jim Bowden resigned before the 2009 campaign, then received the full-time job later that year.
His 17 years running the Nationals’ baseball operations were defined by the 2019 World Series title, the franchise’s first and only championship. Washington also won four NL East titles and finished with a winning record every season from 2012-19, with Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, and Anthony Rendon all drafted under Rizzo and playing central roles in that run. He also brought in Max Scherzer and Trea Turner through major trades and signings, while Juan Soto emerged as the top prize from Washington’s international scouting work.
The final stretch in Washington was much tougher. The Nationals have not had a winning season since 2019, and while the 2022 Soto trade brought a wave of talent into the system, the club still struggled to turn that into sustained progress. An 11-game losing streak in June 2025 was the breaking point, and Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez were both dismissed a week into July 2025.
Owens would bring a very different profile. Unlike Rizzo and Click, he has never been a general manager. He has, however, been around the Athletics organization for nearly three decades, starting as a minor league hitting instructor in 1999 and climbing through roles as a scout, scouting coordinator, director of player personnel, and assistant general manager, a post he has held since 2015.
He has also drawn outside attention before. The Angels and Mets interviewed Owens during the 2020-21 offseason, and the Giants were interested in talking with him when they searched for a GM to work under president of baseball operations Buster Posey after the 2024 season, before ultimately promoting Zack Minasian internally.
The range of candidates suggests the A’s are keeping their options open. Hiring Owens would preserve a long-running internal line of continuity in the front office, one that traces from Billy Beane to Forst and back to Sandy Alderson. But the club may also be weighing a clean break as it heads toward its move to Las Vegas in 2028.
A new GM does not necessarily mean a new manager. Nightengale reported that Mark Kotsay “is considered safe.” Kotsay is in the first season of a three-year extension that runs through 2028, and he has gone 315-482 over more than four seasons in charge.
That record comes with a lot of baggage around the dugout. Kotsay has managed through a rebuild, the team’s move to Sacramento, and the challenge of playing in an extremely hitter-friendly minor league park. Still, the expectations were higher after the A’s spent more money extending several core players over the last two seasons.
Whether a new GM would want his own manager is another question. Owens could lean toward keeping a familiar face, but a first-time hire from outside the organization might want to make that decision himself. One possibility is that Kotsay stays through 2027 to guide the club through its final season in Sacramento, then a new manager is brought in for 2028 and the team’s first year in Las Vegas.
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