{"id":621100,"date":"2026-03-13T01:32:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/621100\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T01:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:32:43","slug":"athletics-gm-david-forst-explains-teams-new-mindset-for-extending-star-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/621100\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics GM David Forst explains team’s new mindset for extending star players"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athletics GM David Forst explains team’s new mindset for extending star players<\/a> originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area<\/a><\/p>\n

The Athletics are entering the 2026 MLB season with their young core secured long-term.<\/p>\n

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The team had gained the reputation of drafting and developing star players, such as Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, then allowing them to either leave for free agency or trade them away due to financial reasons.<\/p>\n

Within the last two seasons, however, it seems that the tide has changed, where the A\u2019s have delivered a flurry of contract extensions to several of their top players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely feels different. And it should,\u201d Forst told The Athletic\u2019s Evan Drellich<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve all looked forward to this for a long time, and the reality of having those press conferences that we\u2019ve had over the last year plus is, those are good days for the organization. Those are good days for the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wave began with designated hitter Brent Rooker\u2019s five-year, $60 million contract extension in January 2025. Shortly after, outfielder Lawrence Butler signed<\/a> a new seven-year, $65.5 million deal in March 2025.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are other players who can look at that now and say, \u2018Hey, that, ultimately, can be me at some point,\u2019\u201d Forst told Drellich. \u201cI don\u2019t doubt there was a time when a lot of our guys were counting down the days till they had an opportunity somewhere else. And that\u2019s never good for the long-term health of the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following a year of growth for the A\u2019s in their first season playing in West Sacramento, the organization extended two of its cornerstone players in Tyler Soderstrom, who received an eight-year, $86 million deal in December 2025<\/a>, and starting shortstop Jacob Wilson, who signed a seven-year, $70 million contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aside from the 31-year-old Rooker, the A\u2019s secured their top players who are 25 years old or younger, highlighting a common theme between the long-term deals.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re trying to sort of focus on what we consider the prime years, and the first couple free agent years, without going too far down the road for either side,\u201d Forst told Drellich. \u201cLetting the player get back to free agency at some point, while there\u2019s still money to be made, but also letting the team minimize risk of going too far into their 30\u2019s, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There also have been reports that the A\u2019s have made a long-term contract extension offer to 2025 AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz<\/a>, which would add another important piece to the team\u2019s long-term plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend less time now on how much value you get in years three, four and five, as opposed to, OK, what price do we have to pay to lock a guy up in years six, seven, eight? And then the player has to be willing to do it,\u201d Forst clarified to Drellich.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody in the game knows that there are agents out there who tell their players there\u2019s no price that\u2019s worth giving up for your free agency years, and I respect that. It doesn\u2019t work for everybody, but you have to find someone who is willing to negotiate that value.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the organization gearing toward a move to Las Vegas, it\u2019s imperative for the A\u2019s to build a product on the field that would draw as many fans as possible to the new ballpark.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s important as we get into the ballpark in Vegas, that we\u2019re not losing guys to free agency the way we have for so long,\u201d Forst added.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s certainly will have one of the best starting lineups in the majors, headlined by Rooker and their young core of Butler, Soderstrom, Wilson and Kurtz. If their overall pitching improves from last season, the A\u2019s have the opportunity to become one of the fastest-rising teams in the entire MLB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Athletics GM David Forst explains team’s new mindset for extending star players originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2391],"tags":[537,5,545,10454,35386,80105,75,1950,4810,379,541,4,3226,459,22523,544],"class_list":["post-621100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-baseball","tag-brent-rooker","tag-contract-extension","tag-evan-drellich","tag-forst","tag-free-agency","tag-jacob-wilson","tag-lawrence-butler","tag-matt-chapman","tag-matt-olson","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-athletics","tag-nick-kurtz","tag-top-players","tag-tyler-soderstrom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116219290721814543","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}