Introduction
David Lee Forst (born May 18, 1976) is an American baseball executive with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. He is the general manager of the Athletics.
Career
Forst was raised in Encino, California. He attended Brentwood School in Brentwood, Los Angeles, and Harvard University, where he played college baseball for the Harvard Crimson. Forst was the Crimson's starting shortstop and team captain. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in sociology from Harvard in 1998. Forst attended spring training with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1999. He played for the Springfield Capitals of the independent Frontier League in 1998 and 1999.
In 2000, Forst sent his résumé to MLB teams and was hired by the Oakland Athletics as a scout. He became the Athletics' assistant general manager in 2004, succeeding Paul DePodesta. He turned down opportunities to interview for the general manager position with the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres. After the 2015 season, the Athletics announced that, with Billy Beane being promoted to Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, Forst would be promoted to general manager.