The A's named Cam Castro, 36, general manager on November 4, 2026. He spent eight years with the World Series champion Brewers, rising from minor league pitching coach to senior vice president of player development and performance, and now works under president of baseball operations Taylor Smith.
Cam Castro is the A's new general manager. The club named the 36-year-old to the job on November 4, 2026, hiring him from the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers, where he rose from minor league pitching coach in 2019 to senior vice president of player development and performance. He works under Taylor Smith.
That background is the whole story of the hire. A's pitchers just gave up a franchise-record number of home runs, and the club hired a pitching development specialist as the No. 2 executive in baseball operations, one season before the move to Las Vegas. Here is who Castro is, where he came from and what to watch as he gets to work. Every move he makes from here will land on our A's 2027 offseason tracker.
- Job: A's general manager, named November 4, 2026.
- Age: 36.
- Reports to: Taylor Smith, president of baseball operations, hired October 19, 2026.
- Last job: senior vice president of player development and performance, Milwaukee Brewers.
- Brewers tenure: eight years, starting in 2019 as a minor league pitching coach.
- Before that: college pitching coach, Lake Erie College head coach and a throwing trainer at Driveline Baseball in 2016.
- Played in the majors: no.
Who Is Cam Castro?
Castro is a pitching development executive. The A's announced his hire on the morning of Wednesday, November 4, FOX5 Las Vegas reported, and the club welcomed him on X with "Welcome to the Green & Gold, Cam!" The Associated Press, in a report published by ESPN, called it Smith's first major decision since taking over two weeks earlier.
Castro did not play in the majors. His path ran through college coaching, a private pitching lab and the Brewers' minor league system, which makes him a different kind of general manager than the A's have had in the past. He is also young for the job, though not the youngest person in the A's front office. Smith is 31.
In his statement on the hire, as quoted by the AP, Castro said: "The A's are a historic franchise with an incredible legacy." He added, "I look forward to being a part of the next chapter of A's baseball."
What Did Cam Castro Do With the Brewers?
He climbed the entire player development ladder in Milwaukee. According to USA Today's report, published on Yahoo Sports, Castro joined the Brewers in 2019 as a minor league pitching coach and was then promoted to:
- Minor league pitching coordinator
- Director of pitching development
- Vice president in charge of player development
- Senior vice president of player development and performance
FOX5 reports he held that last title for the past two seasons. The AP describes the role as serving as the liaison between the Brewers' front office and the coaching staff on player development. In other words, his job was turning information from the front office into better players on the field.
Milwaukee won its first World Series title in franchise history in 2026, and USA Today wrote that Castro "was obviously part of the front office that produced Jacob Misiorowski" and helped the club get there. The same report says the Brewers have built a reputation for fixing pitchers under his leadership, pointing to Kyle Harrison and Quinn Priester as pitchers who turned their careers around after Milwaukee acquired them. That is credit to an organization, and Castro was one leader inside it. It would be a stretch to hand him personal credit for any one pitcher, and the reporting does not do that either.
How Did Castro Get Into Pitching Development?
Through coaching, mostly at small colleges. USA Today lays out the path:
- Lake Erie College: a Division II school in Painesville, Ohio, where he earned a legal studies degree in 2012.
- Defiance College: he coached pitchers and earned an MBA in sports management.
- Northwoods League: two summers coaching in the college summer league.
- Augustana University: a coaching stop in South Dakota.
- Driveline Baseball: a trainer at the Seattle pitching lab USA Today describes as "best known for adding velocity." FOX5 dates his time there as a throwing trainer to 2016.
- Back to Lake Erie: he became the head coach at his alma mater in August 2016.
Three years later he was in pro ball with Milwaukee. The Driveline stop matters for understanding the hire. It ties Castro to the data-heavy, velocity-focused training Driveline is known for, a close cousin of the evidence-first thinking the A's made famous in the Moneyball era.
How Does Castro Fit Under Taylor Smith?
Cam Castro is the A's new general manager.
Smith runs baseball operations and Castro is his top lieutenant. The A's hired Smith, a former Red Sox assistant general manager, as president of baseball operations on October 19, 2026. MLB Trade Rumors reports that Smith, 31, spent seven years with the Rays, starting in research and development and rising to director of predictive modeling, before Boston hired him at the end of the 2024 season.
That gives the A's a clear split in backgrounds at the top. Smith comes from analytics and modeling. Castro comes from the coaching and development side, where the numbers have to become a plan a pitcher can actually use. Smith's statement, quoted by the AP, put it simply: "Cam will be an awesome addition to the front office and a great partner to me in running this organization." He also called Castro "one of the best development minds in the game."
Manager Mark Kotsay stays in place. As our tracker notes, his extension runs through 2028 with a club option for 2029.
Why Do the A's Need a Pitching Fix?
Because the 2026 staff was a problem by almost any measure. The A's went 64-98 in their second season at Sutter Health Park. According to Baseball-Reference, their pitchers posted a 5.51 ERA over 1,430 innings, allowed 247 home runs and walked 637 batters. USA Today reported that the 247 homers were a franchise record.
The A's know it. After the season finale, Kotsay said pitching "should be priority number one this offseason," per USA Today. FOX5 wrote that Castro's pitching background is expected to be central to rebuilding the staff.
The roster moves so far point the same way. The A's declined Jeffrey Springs' 2027 option after he went 4-14 with a 6.18 ERA, and MLB Trade Rumors has described the remaining rotation as "not a strong group." Luis Severino is reportedly returning, alongside young starters like J.T. Ginn, Jacob Lopez and Gage Jump. Our tracker has the details and sources for each of those moves.
What Is the A's Pitching Plan for Las Vegas?
The plan, as far as the public record goes, is the hire itself. The A's have not published a pitching blueprint, and we are not going to guess at one. What the reporting does show is the shape of the job:
- Develop more of their own pitchers. Castro's entire Brewers career was in player development, and that is the skill set the A's chose for the No. 2 job.
- Get better results from the pitchers they acquire. USA Today's point about Milwaukee reviving Harrison and Priester describes exactly the kind of work an A's staff coming off a 5.51 ERA could use.
- Build it before 2028. 2027 is the A's third and final season at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, the AP reported via ESPN, and FOX5 reports the new Las Vegas ballpark is scheduled to open by Opening Day 2028.
That last point is why the timing matters to Las Vegas fans. A development system takes time to show results in the majors. Pitchers who start working with Castro's group now are the ones who could be in the rotation when the A's open their new Las Vegas ballpark on the Strip.
What Happened to David Forst?
Forst was the A's last general manager before Castro. MLB Trade Rumors reports he joined the club in 2000, succeeded Billy Beane as general manager in 2015 and was let go in August 2026, roughly 11 years into the job. Assistant general manager Dan Feinstein finished the season as interim GM and was not a candidate for the permanent role, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
The structure is different now. Forst held the top baseball job after Beane moved to an advisory role. Smith holds that job today, and the general manager title belongs to the No. 2 executive under him.
What Should A's Fans Watch Next?
Castro's first weeks line up with the busiest stretch of the offseason, and some of it happens in Las Vegas.
- His introduction: the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the A's were scheduled to introduce Castro in Las Vegas on November 5, alongside Smith.
- GM Meetings, November 10 to 12: held in Las Vegas this year, and often where trade talks start.
- December 1: the collective bargaining agreement expires and a lockout is widely expected, which would freeze trades and free agent signings for 40-man roster players. Our explainer on what an MLB lockout would mean for the A's covers that scenario.
- Staff changes: watch the coaching and player development staff, the area Castro ran in Milwaukee.
- Starting pitching additions: the clearest roster need, through trades or free agency.
The Bottom Line
The A's hired a pitching development executive from the World Series champions to fix the worst part of their roster before the move to Las Vegas. Castro, 36, has no big league playing career but has climbed every rung of Milwaukee's development system. Whether that translates to better A's pitching will show up in 2027 in West Sacramento, and it will matter most in 2028 on the Strip.
Sources
- FOX5 Las Vegas, A's officially name Cam Castro as general manager ahead of 2028 Las Vegas move (November 4, 2026)
- ESPN (Associated Press), Athletics hire Brewers' Cam Castro as new general manager (November 4, 2026)
- USA Today via Yahoo Sports, report on the A's hiring Cam Castro as GM (November 4, 2026)
- MLB Trade Rumors, Athletics Hire Taylor Smith As President Of Baseball Ops (October 19, 2026)
- Las Vegas Review-Journal, Athletics to introduce Cam Castro as their new general manager (November 2026)
- Baseball-Reference, 2026 Athletics pitching statistics
The LV Athletics is an independent, fan-run site and is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the Athletics organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the A's general manager?
Cam Castro. The A's named him general manager on November 4, 2026. He is 36 and works under Taylor Smith, the president of baseball operations, after eight years in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
What did Cam Castro do for the Brewers?
He ran player development. Castro joined Milwaukee in 2019 as a minor league pitching coach and rose to senior vice president of player development and performance, the title he held for the past two seasons, FOX5 reported.
Did Cam Castro play in the major leagues?
No. Castro never played in the majors. He coached pitchers at small colleges, worked as a throwing trainer at Driveline Baseball in 2016 and became Lake Erie College's head coach before joining the Brewers in 2019.
Who does Cam Castro report to?
Taylor Smith, 31, the A's president of baseball operations. The A's hired Smith from the Red Sox on October 19, 2026, and the AP called Castro's hire Smith's first major decision in the job.
Why did the A's hire a pitching development executive?
Pitching was their biggest problem. The 2026 A's went 64-98, posted a 5.51 team ERA and allowed 247 home runs, a franchise record per USA Today. Manager Mark Kotsay said pitching should be the top offseason priority.
When will Cam Castro's A's play in Las Vegas full time?
In 2028. The AP reports 2027 is the A's third and final season at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, and FOX5 reports the new Las Vegas ballpark is scheduled to open by Opening Day 2028.
