The Oakland Athletics' were one of the most surprising teams in the major leagues this year and the team decided to reward its manager for that performance.
According to the Associated Press, the Athletics have as given a two-year extension to Melvin to stay with the franchise through the 2016 season. Melvin, a Bay Area native, led the A's to the American League West division title last season after trailing the Texas Rangers for most of the year.
Melvin helped the A's to become the first team in major league history to win a division or pennant after trailing by five games with less than 10 to play in the season. During the final series against the Rangers, Oakland swept Texas to take home the AL West division crown for the first time since 2006.
"To get an extension like this from people you respect and admire and supported you, it really makes you feel good and makes you feel better about doing your job," said Melvin, voted AL Manager of the Year after leading Oakland to a surprising West division title. "My expectations are the same as last year. We're going to compete hard and expect to win. Based on having the results we had last year, we'll have that much more confidence coming into spring training."
After making the playoffs, Oakland was eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in five games in the AL division series. The Athletics finished the year 94-68 and made the postseason for the first time in five years and finished with the most wins for the team since winning 93 in 2006 and 96 in 2003.
Melvin previously was the manager of the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks before receiving a three-year contract from the Athletics in 2011. Melvin took over the team for fired manager Bob Geren in early 2011. He brought the Diamondbacks to a surprising division title in 2007 and won 93 games in his rookie season with Seattle in 2003, their most over the past decade.
"It's really a reflection of our commitment to Bob and Bob's commitment to us. If you know you have the right guy, there's no sense in waiting until he's got one year left," general manager Billy Beane said. "This was probably the simplest negotiation I've ever had in my career here. That's a reflection of the relationship that Bob has with the organization. We're happy to give him this well-deserved extension. It didn't take very long. The actual writing it up took longer than the actual negotiations."
This season the team was predicted by many to finish in the bottom of the AL West, but instead won the division and was one of the best teams during the second half of the year despite having a payroll of $59.5 million -- lowest in the majors -- and 12 rookies. Melvin was voted AL Manager of the Year for his performance this season, while general manager Billy Beane won Executive of the Year.
"I was excited and impressed when Billy told me that Bob was available and accepting the manager role with us," owner Lew Wolff said. "As I observed Bob's leadership and very special drive, I was even more impressed with Billy's choice. I am so very pleased that we will have Bob with us for the foreseeable future. Bob's use of our talent was and is brilliant in my opinion."
Making his job this year even more amazing, the Athletics didn't finish higher than 14th in the league in a number of major categories, including runs, batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage.
From the minute I got here, I have felt welcome from Billy, Lew, (team president) Michael Crowley, all the front office staff and the players," Melvin said. "Everything has been so fluid here. On top of that, you get an extension like this from the people you respect and admire, it really makes you feel good and makes you feel better about doing your job."
The Athletics continued to defy the odds all season, coming back from a 13-game lead in the division and four runs down in the final game of the season to send the Rangers to the wild-card round, where they eventually lost to the Baltimore Orioles. According to ESPN.com, the Athletics won their first division title in six years and the Rangers set a record for most days spent in first place without winning a division, losing out after 178 days.
"Ever since Day 1 I've been here, it's been, the A's can't compete with the payroll, can't compete with this team or that team," catcher Derek Norris said at the time. "We're better off if we're down. It just gives us the extra energy."
The Athletics looked to be in rebuilding mode before the season started, trading three skilled young pitchers to other teams, including All-Star starters Trevor Cahill and eventual 21-game winner Gio Gonzalez. The team also traded closer Andrew Bailey to Boston and later starting catcher Kurt Suzuki to the Nationals in the middle of the season, another typical sign of giving up on the year. Other players brought in included names like Jonny Gomes, Seth Smith, and Bartolo Colon.
The team earned 14 walk-off wins on the year, the most in the major leagues and benefitted greatly from the signing of Cuban outfielder Yoenis Céspedes, who hit .292 with 23 home runs and 82 RBIs in his first major league season. Oakland dealt with numerous injuries to the pitching staff and also lost right-hander Bartolo Colon to a 50-game suspension in August for a positive testosterone test.
Even with all those issues, the team won 13 of their final 15 games in August to propel them to an AL West division crown and a five game series against the Tigers in the playoffs. Melvin offers the team experience and a winning pedigree for the 2013 season and provides the type of philosophy that will help Oakland keep up with teams like Texas and Los Angeles who have proven to be big spenders.
The biggest hurdle for the Athletics next season will be to take on the Angels, who have added Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson and Josh Hamilton in free agency over the past two seasons. Add those players to homegrown talent like Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo and the Angels lineup looks scarier than anyone's in baseball.
Melvin spoke to the Times-Standard and said that the signings won't change much for the Oakland franchise.
"If you take a look at last spring, the competition was loading up then, too," the manager said. "Texas was as good as they've been, Anaheim had just signed (Albert) Pujols and C.J. Wilson, so it's not anything that's new to us or anything we're that concerned about. We're concerned more with what we do on our club. We're going to compete hard and expect to win."
Even if the Athletics are picked behind the angles and Rangers again next season, they already know what they are capable of.