November 06, 2005

Melvin Gets Contract Extension

It was a pipe dream thinking the Brewers should hire Theo Epstein. Now, I woke up to reality:

As promised at the end of the regular season, Attanasio extended the contract of general manager Doug Melvin for three years Saturday, running through the 2009 season. Melvin had one year remaining on his original four-year deal, signed with the former ownership group headed by the family of Commissioner Bud Selig.

"It has been the plan all along," said Attanasio, who immediately hit it off with Melvin after assuming control of the Brewers in January. "I'm delighted Doug is going to be with us through '09. I'm sure we can do a lot of great things with the team and the community."

Attanasio and Melvin had worked on the extension for the past few weeks, but the owner decided to bring negotiations to a conclusion when Melvin's name surfaced in regard to openings in Boston and with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The timing worked out nicely for Melvin, who arrived in California for the annual general managers meetings this week in Indian Wells.

I have a suspicion that the way the Brewers improved is along sabermetric lines. I'll have to look at some stats.

"Melvin, Brewers Seal the Deal"