Oakland A's promote Billy Owens and Dan Feinstein to assistant GM

The Oakland Athletics have promoted Billy Owens and Dan Feinstein to assistant general manager titles, the club announced today:

#Athletics promote Billy Owens to Asst. GM/Director of Player Personnel and Dan Feinstein to Asst. GM, Pro Scouting and Player Personnel

— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) November 6, 2015

Owens and Feinstein join Dan Kantrovitz at the assistant general manager level in the A's organization. Kantrovitz does not formally have an additional title in the front office beyond assistant general manager, but his club bio says his primary focus is "on overseeing statistical analysis for evaluating and targeting players in the amateur draft, free agent and trade markets."

Owens has been director of player personnel since 2004. In a press release, the A's said "Owens will continue to provide input and recommendations for potential trades and free agent signings, along with evaluation in the area of amateur scouting." Owens was interviewed last month for the general manager position with the Philadelphia Phillies, but was out of the running after the first round of interviews, reported Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY.

Feinstein returned to the A's after 2011 as director of professional scouting/baseball development. In their press release, the Athletics say Feinstein "will continue to oversee the A's professional and international scouting efforts while assisting in all other aspects of baseball operations."

★★★

It's tempting to say all these recent promotions smack of a bit of title inflation, but I think these titles accurately reflect the importance of Owens, Feinstein, and Kantrovitz to the A's organization. Owens has been with the club continuously since 1999 and Feinstein from 1994-2004 and since the 2011-12 offseason. Kantrovitz has been in various baseball capacities since 2004, and 2016 will be his fifth season with the A's in some capacity.

The A's front office is oft described as a "brain trust" and it's only befitting to recognize those minds in a way not really possible for the recent title bumps for Beane and Forst.