Brewers' front office may be plundered in Athletics' search for new GM

For well over a year, Milwaukee Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine has been linked to potential opportunities elsewhere that would represent a promotion. Last offseason, Kleine emerged as a name to watch in the Washington Nationals’ search for a new general manager, which went to Blake Butera, as well as for assistant GM positions within the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox' organizations.

Kleine, who has been with the Brewers organization since 2007, ended up staying put. However, that hasn't stopped his name from popping up elsewhere -- in August he was linked to the Houston Astros following their firing of Dana Brown.

Other teams in need of someone to run their baseball operations include the Los Angeles Angels and Athletics, who are in the process of moving to Las Vegas and revamping their organization. Of those two, journalists Patrick Mooney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently wrote that Kleine is a leading candidate to land the Athletics gig.

Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine cited as a leading candidate to land the Athletics GM role

In August, the Athletics fired general manager David Forst, who had held the position since 2015 after joining the organization as a scout in 2000. Dan Feinstein was subsequently named interim GM, but the organization is expected to conduct a thorough search for an external candidate to take over the role.

Like Forst, Kleine initially found his footing as a scout. He joined Milwaukee in that role in 2007, but beginning in 2011, he started taking on other jobs, including baseball operations assistant, coordinator of advance scouting and baseball contracts, manager of baseball operations, director of baseball operations, and, in 2023, assistant GM.

The only step left in Kleine’s career progression is a promotion to general manager and/or president of baseball operations, and the Athletics could be a potential landing spot. His extensive knowledge of the game and experience in various front-office roles certainly make him a strong candidate, and his success in Milwaukee speaks for itself. Kleine has been a key part of the most successful stretch of Brewers' baseball in franchise history, and the impact of his loss would undoubtedly be felt in Milwaukee's front office.

That said, the Brewers have fortunately built a front-office structure capable of withstanding significant departures. The clearest example came when David Stearns left for New York, but Milwaukee continued operating without missing a beat. The organization has also weathered the departures of Ray Montgomery in 2020, Mike Groopman in 2021, and Eduardo Brizuela in 2023.

It's the downside of having such a successful front office -- other teams want to hire away your talent and learn the secrets that have led to your success. The fact that Kleine is consistently named as a candidate for open GM roles, and will almost certainly land one at some point, is evidence of how the rest of the league views the Brewers' unparalleled front office.

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