Sam Fuld stays in Philadelphia as A’s president search narrows, with Taylor Smith now viewed as the leading candidate

The Athletics’ effort to reshape their baseball operations leadership hit a new snag on Saturday when Yahoo Sports reported that Phillies general manager Sam Fuld turned down an offer to become the A’s president. The decision means one of the most prominent candidates tied to the Oakland job will remain in Philadelphia, where he would have been taking a broader, more top-level path rather than staying focused on day-to-day baseball management.

According to the report by Jeff Passan, Fuld’s choice keeps him in the Phillies organization and also keeps him in the second tier of authority behind Philadelphia President Dave Dombrowski. In other words, the move is less about rejecting baseball leadership and more about refusing a reorganization of his role that would have traded his current position for a new institutional structure in Oakland.

For the A’s, the development narrows the list of candidates as they work to stabilize and align their organizational decision-making. The president role matters in MLB organizations because it typically sits above the general manager in the chain of authority for broad strategy, internal priorities, and how resources are allocated across scouting, player development, and contract decisions.

With Fuld out, attention appears to shift toward Taylor Smith, who the report characterizes as “top” among potential candidates to fill the opening. Smith’s positioning in that description suggests Oakland could be looking for someone who can bridge baseball judgment with the kinds of executive-level leadership responsibilities that a president role usually involves.

The Phillies context is also important. Fuld’s report-backed decision indicates that, at least for now, Philadelphia prefers continuity in its baseball operations leadership rather than accelerating internal change by elevating him to another club’s top administrative track. That continuity can matter during the stretch run of organizational planning, particularly as teams assess their long-term roster strategy and the direction of their farm system.

Still, it is worth noting what the report does and does not establish. The account is centered on Fuld’s reported decision and the reshaping of the A’s candidate list, not on a formal contract signing or an official announcement from Oakland. Until the Athletics confirm next steps through their own communications, any discussion about the next president remains a best-available picture rather than a finalized personnel move.

What to watch next is whether the Athletics convert the emerging interest around Taylor Smith into a formal process, including any internal interviews, board-level approvals, or official release. For Oakland supporters and for the broader competitive landscape, the bigger question is how quickly the club can settle on a clear front-office hierarchy and translate that structure into the player-building philosophy that will determine roster quality over the next few seasons.