The Las Vegas A’s Podcast — part of the House Always Wins Media Network

David Forst is out, and Sam is taking a step back to grade his entire tenure as the person running the A’s baseball operations. In this episode of Where Stats Meet Instincts, Sam breaks down Forst’s performance across four critical areas: the MLB Draft, trades, free agency and international signings. The verdict? It’s complicated. The A’s have drafted extremely well in recent years, earning an A-, while the trade record lands around a C, free agency gets a D, and international scouting receives an F. Put it all together, and Sam lands at roughly a C- for the Forst era — while also acknowledging the enormous degree of difficulty he faced operating with limited resources.
But the real question isn't whether David Forst deserved to be fired. What happens next? Sam explains why he doesn't want to see the A’s simply promote someone from inside the organization and instead argues for a younger, outside baseball executive capable of completely modernizing the organization. From pitching development and minor-league development to player evaluation, international scouting and roster construction, Sam lays out exactly what he wants from the next A’s front office. The A’s are entering a new era, and Sam believes this is their chance to finally build the baseball operation that can make them competitive in Las Vegas.

The Port Report lands a huge interview as A’s first-round pick Drew Burress joins the show to talk about his whirlwind journey from Georgia Tech to being selected No. 8 overall in the 2026 MLB Draft. Burress opens up about the emotional end to his college career, playing alongside his Georgia Tech teammates, adjusting from metal to wood bats, his first week of professional baseball, and what it feels like to finally turn a lifelong dream into reality. He also explains why Georgia Tech was ultimately the best decision for his development and how he is building a routine for the grind of professional baseball.
Burress also addresses one of the biggest knocks that followed him throughout his career: his height. The Georgia Tech home run king explains why being labeled “too short” motivated him, how he developed the strength and power to compete against much bigger players, and why he believes production ultimately matters more than measurements. The Port Report also breaks down the impressive debuts of Roman Martin and Alex Sosa, the Stockton Ports' playoff chase, Mason Patel joining the organization, the development of several pitching prospects, and what the firing of David Forst could mean for the A’s organization moving forward.

Sammy and Quinlan are back with another LIVE episode of Budget Baseball, coming your way at 6:00 PM on YouTube—just before first pitch as the A’s open a series against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays enter at 71-46 and sitting atop the AL East, while the A’s are 47-71 and looking for answers during another frustrating season. The big headline is the return of Zack Gelof from the injured list, while Jacob Lopez gets the ball for the A’s against Tampa Bay’s Freddy Peralta. Sammy and Quinlan break down the pitching matchup, Gelof’s return and what to watch for when these two clubs finally meet for the first time this season.
But this episode goes well beyond tonight’s game. Roster construction is front and center, as Sammy and Quinlan examine what the A’s should actually be building toward and, perhaps more importantly, what the organization’s next general manager hire will tell us about ownership’s vision. Is the next GM going to be empowered to tear things down and rebuild the baseball operation, or are we simply getting another version of the same philosophy? With the A’s future direction hanging in the balance, Budget Baseball tackles the questions that matter—and they aren't afraid to go where the answers might hurt.

The Lansing Lugnuts are rolling, and one of their biggest young pitching stories just earned a ticket to Double-A. Steven Echavarria has been promoted to Midland after putting together a breakout season in Lansing, capped by a career-high nine strikeouts over six dominant innings against Lake County. Now Jesse Goldberg-Strassler joins Booney to break down what Echavarria accomplished in Lansing, what made his development so impressive and what the promotion means for his future in the A's organization. And if his 100-mph fastball to finish his career-best outing was any indication, Midland is about to find out what Lansing has been watching.
But Echavarria wasn't the only story from an absolutely bonkers series against Lake County. The Nuts won five of six, including a 6-1 victory behind Jorge Marcheco and a wild 6-5 comeback that ended with Daniel Bucciero's two-out, ninth-inning walk-off single. Jake Reinisch continued his hot streak with multiple clutch home runs, 18-year-old Breyson Guedez picked up his first High-A RBI, Pedro Pineda launched a massive three-run homer, and the Nuts came within one victory of the first six-game sweep in franchise history. We're breaking down all of it — plus the prospects whose stock is rising fastest in Lansing.

The series-win drought is finally over! The A’s walked into Boston and walked out with a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox, securing their first series win since June 15 against the Rockies. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't boring. The A’s jumped out early, fell behind 3-2, then fought their way back behind a clutch RBI double from Jonah Heim in the eighth to tie the game before Max Muncy delivered the knockout punch in the ninth, doubling home Max Schuemann to put the A’s ahead for good.
Booney breaks down a game that featured everything: JT Ginn battling through five innings, Nick Kurtz getting the day off, Jacob Wilson reaching twice in the first inning, Luis Soderstrom continuing to make things happen, the bullpen shutting Boston down late, and Hogan Harris surviving a tense ninth inning to close it out. After losing series after series for nearly two months, the A’s finally have something to celebrate. Is this the beginning of a turnaround—or just one very satisfying interruption to the madness? Last Call: A’s Postgame Live gets into all of it tonight at 9:00.

The episode centers on the strange but welcome reality that the A’s actually won a series against Boston, immediately after the organization parted ways with David Forst. The transcript looks at whether those events are connected, what Forst’s departure could mean for the culture and decision-making inside the organization, and whether interim GM Dan Feinstein represents the beginning of a larger front-office overhaul. Hobbs also makes the case that Mark Kotsay’s time should be coming to an end and that the A’s need to start making serious decisions about which players belong in the organization’s future.
But this is still The Habit Hunter, so one series win doesn't get everybody off the hook. Hobbs tears into the ugly series-opening loss, the strikeout epidemic, questionable bullpen decisions, the constant shuffling of young pitchers, Jeff McNeil's lack of playing time, and the A’s maddening habit of pulling pitchers when they're rolling while leaving struggling arms in too long. Then comes the fun part: Gage Jump delivers six innings and a career-high 11 strikeouts, the offense wakes up, Jacob Wilson contributes, Jonah Heim comes through, and the A’s finally give their fans something to smile about.

In Episode 2 of The Lab, Aidan goes deep into the A's farm system with his ranking of the top 24 position-player prospects in the organization. But this isn't another copy-and-paste prospect list. Aidan explains exactly how he evaluates players, breaking prospects down through four primary categories—discipline, power, fielding and running—while explaining why he puts more emphasis on some tools than others. He also discusses why prospect rankings can be misleading, why minor-league defense is difficult to evaluate, and why simply looking at batting average, home runs or stolen bases doesn't tell the entire story.
Then comes the fun part: the rankings. Aidan breaks down players ranging from established high-end prospects and young international players to potential future utility players and prospects whose windows may be closing. Leo DeVries, Devin Taylor, Breyson Guedez, Johenssy Colome, Shotaro Morii, Cole Conn, Daniel PBucciero, Edgar Montero, Cameron Leary, Myles Naylor and many more make the conversation. There are big projections, major questions and a few players Aidan believes could surprise people. And just when the conversation gets rolling, Aidan explains why pitching prospects deserve an entirely different evaluation—and promises that breakdown is coming next.

The losing streak is FINALLY over! After nine straight losses, the A’s walked into Fenway Park and took down the red-hot Red Sox 7-3 behind an absolute gem from Gage Jump, who dominated Boston for six innings while striking out 11. The offense chipped in with a huge middle-inning rally, including RBI hits from Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, Max Muncy, and Jacob Wilson, a two-run double from Andrew Walton, a 413-foot blast from Tyler Soderstrom and a 439-foot exclamation point from Lawrence Butler. After nine straight nights of misery, the A’s finally gave their fans something to celebrate.
Tonight on Last Call: A’s Postgame LIVE, Booney is NOT alone! The one and only Aaron Cameron (@BootlegGuy) joins the show for a full breakdown of the win, Gage Jump’s electric performance, the offensive contributions, and whether this victory can actually mean something for the final stretch of the season. But the conversation goes well beyond tonight’s box score — Booney and Aaron will also dive into the David Forst situation, where this franchise goes from here, and what needs to happen for the A’s to finally find their way. LIVE TONIGHT AT 8:00 PM ON YOUTUBE — DON'T MISS IT!