A’s GM Forst feels “really good” about team’s deadline changes originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
With the MLB trade deadline frenzy now in hindsight, Athletics general manager David Forst feels pretty good about Oakland’s approach.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday before the Bay Bridge Series, Forst explained why the A’s decided not to sell at the deadline like in previous years.
“I feel really good about the players coming back,” Forst said. “Obviously, you would always rather be on the other side of this day when bringing in major leaguers, but we’re not there yet. This team has played really well, we’ve played .500 in the last 30 games, the first winning month in a while, so there’s a lot of positives out there right now.
“Frankly, there was a lot of interest in every player on this team. But we felt like this year we were in a different position than the last two years in terms of being able to say ‘no’ to players who were asked because we want guys to be here and be part of what we’re doing. .”
In previous seasons, Oakland was known for sending its young talent, but with the exception of changing pitchers Paul Blackburn It is Lucas Erceg, the franchise kept the rest of the team intact.
With emerging stars like Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker, The A’s have a young core that will hopefully help turn the team into playoff contenders in the future, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by head coach Mark Kotsay.
“I think from a team standpoint… the last two seasons we’ve been in and where we are now, there’s a little bit of a difference in terms of this group and the vision of this group,” Kotsay told reporters on Tuesday. “We believe there are a lot of pieces here that we can move forward and build on.”
Players like Rooker, Butler and Daz Cameron led Oakland to a winning month in July for the first time since 2022. By maintaining the core group, the A’s are poised to climb out of the cellar in the coming seasons. The team has not reached the playoffs since the abbreviated 2020 season and has not won a postseason round since 2006.
