Athletics hire Taylor Smith to lead Baseball Operations

The Athletics have named Taylor Smith as their President of Baseball Operations, putting him in charge of the club’s baseball strategy and operations as it prepares for a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.

Smith joins the A’s after spending the past two seasons as the Boston Red Sox’s Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager. Before that, he spent seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays.

In Boston, Smith oversaw baseball research and development, including analytics, science, systems, and technology. He also guided collaboration between the department and the club’s player acquisition, player development, and baseball operations groups.

Welcome to the Green & Gold, Taylor!

We have named Taylor Smith as our President of Baseball Operations. https://t.co/Y9FeEkwMxC

— Athletics (@Athletics) October 19, 2026

More on the Athletics

Smith said the Athletics’ influence on team building—and their work during the Moneyball era—helped inspire his own career.

“It’s an honor to build on that legacy as we work to create the next great A’s team, build on our foundation for sustained success, and prepare for our new home in Las Vegas,” he said.

A’s owner John Fisher said the club conducted a thorough search and pointed to Smith’s knowledge of player performance and development.

“We have a strong core of returning players, including Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, and Henry Bolte, as well as a lot of great talent in our farm system,” Fisher said. “With Taylor’s leadership and the talent already in our organization, we believe we have all the pieces in place to build a consistently competitive and winning team.”

Smith, 31, grew up in Woodstock, Georgia. He earned joint bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Georgia.

He started his career as an intern in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ research and development department. In 2018, he joined the Rays as a research and development analyst, working on the amateur draft and player valuation.

He became a lead analyst in 2021 and was named Director of Predictive Modeling the following year. In that position, he oversaw the club’s player valuation models and helped lead its research and development staff. He joined the Red Sox in 2024.

A’s senior advisor Billy Beane welcomed Smith to the organization, describing him as a creative baseball executive with the leadership skills to build a modern, winning club.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the A’s future,” Beane said.

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