Athletics hire 31-year-old Taylor Smith to run baseball operations

The Athletics have hired Taylor Smith, 31, as president of baseball operations, and owner John Fisher made his age the selling point. "The world is run by 31-year-olds today," Fisher said at Smith's introduction Wednesday, according to ESPN.

Smith is the youngest person in that role for a major league team, passing Washington's Paul Toboni, who is 36. He spent seven years with the Tampa Bay Rays and the past two with the Boston Red Sox, where he oversaw a research department that included analytics and had a big role in player personnel.

Fisher compared the hire to technology startups "being created by kids" and said Smith's inexperience gives the club confidence he will try new things. "Some of them won't work, a lot of them will," Fisher said. Fisher said it was the first time in more than 70 years the franchise had gone outside the organization for the job, and he called hiring a general manager "a definite possibility." That spot has been empty since the A's parted ways with David Forst two months ago. Forst had been GM since 2015 and with the club since 2000.

The fan debate starts with the roster Smith inherits. The A's went 64-98, they are two years from a move to Las Vegas, and they played their second season at a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento, California, and their 5.51 ERA was second-worst in baseball, ahead of only Colorado's 5.59.

Smith thinks the pitching was "a little unlucky" on balls in play and said acquiring pitching is "something where you can be very opportunistic across the league." He inherits a young lineup core of Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler to go with veteran Brent Rooker.

Manager Mark Kotsay has already dismissed hitting coach Chris Cron and quality control coach Marcus Jensen and wants better player development and pitching depth.

What to watch: whether Fisher adds a GM under Smith, and whether the A's spend on pitching this winter.