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Billy Beane has been the GM of the A's since 1997, and while his role has undoubtedly expanded since taking the position 15 years ago, he hasn't received a promotion in that time. However according to Ken Rosenthal, and Susan Slusser, that's going to change soon.
In an article from early August, Slusser wrote,
"It's also a strong bet that the A's will follow the trend of other teams in recent years and promote Beane to a team-president-level title and assistant general manager David Forst to general manager this winter"
Over the last few seasons, teams have essentially begun hiring multiple GM's, or executives that fit that mold, and stockpiling talent for their respective front offices. The Cubs did it in 2011, when they hired Theo Epstein to be their President, while Jed Hoyer took the title of GM. Since then, many teams have adopted the same principle, and the A's appear to be next in line to install a similar hierarchy.
According to Ken Rosenthal, it's expected that Beane and the A's will announce something, however it won't be for the role of president, which Michael Crowley will keep.
If, as expected, #Athletics promote Beane, it will be to role similar to one La Russa has in AZ. Michael Crowley will remain club president.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 17, 2015
La Russa is chief baseball officer with #DBacks. Friedman, Epstein, Dombrowski all presidents of baseball operations. Same difference.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 17, 2015
Regardless of what Beane's ultimate title is, Slusser reported that he would "still [maintain] overall control of major baseball decisions", which would mean that Forst would need approval to make any franchise altering decisions.
While the timing of this seems to be somewhat random, it makes perfect sense, as multiple teams are looking for a new GM, and the A's clearly want to keep Forst in their organization. He's been the AGM with the club for 12 years, and giving him a promotion now would prevent him from leaving.
As of now, Beane is the longest tenured GM in baseball, but that figures to change soon. While he'll seemingly get a new title, and likely some new responsibilities, he'll still have an active day-to-day role with the team, and will remain in charge of baseball operations.