Let’s Hope The Next A’s GM and PBO Are Watching

October 17, 2026 - 13:01

The post-season is always a blend of exciting and frustrating. Exciting to see games with so much riding on every pitch and to see some of the best teams strut their talent. Frustrating that the A's are not one of those teams and to reflect on the gap between how the best teams play and how far the A's have fallen from that standard.

Watching October baseball makes that gap impossible to ignore. The teams still playing execute in the small moments. They make the right pitching change, take the extra base, turn the double play when it matters. Those habits are built over months, not weeks, and they start with the people running the organization.

That is why the next general manager and president of baseball operations inherit more than a roster. They inherit a mandate to close that gap. The A's have spent years cycling through talent and watching it leave. The next leadership group needs to show it understands how winning teams are constructed in the modern game, from player development to deadline decisions.

Fans have heard promises before. What they need now is evidence that the people in charge are watching the same October games and taking notes. The rest of the league is not waiting.