Athletics to extend manager Bob Melvin despite rough season
It hasn’t been a particularly productive season for the Oakland Athletics. While the club didn’t come into the year with lofty expectations, it’s safe to say that, at 60-79, they’ve underperformed.
When disappointing seasons happen, franchises normally designate a scapegoat for their failures. More often than not, that scapegoat is the manager.
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That’s not the case in Oakland, however. Despite the rough season, the A’s are expected to give manager Bob Melvin a contract extension, according to Paul Casella of MLB.com.
The team would not confirm the report, but did schedule a press conference for Wednesday afternoon. They are expected to announce the extension at that time.
Melvin was signed through 2016, but will receive a multi-year deal. While the club could have gone into next season with Melvin still under contract, teams don’t like to have their managers enter the year with that much uncertainty. That’s likely why the move was made now.
The decision to extend Melvin indicates that the Athletics are happy with his work, even though the team hasn’t performed well. That’s probably fair. Melvin has been an effective manager over his career. In five seasons with Oakland, he has a .532 winning percentage. In 12 seasons as a manager, that winning percentage is still solid, coming in at .509.
There’s also some evidence that this Oakland team is better than their record indicates. Despite the fact that the team is nearly 20 games under .500, Oakland still has a positive run differential. They’ve actually outscored their opponents by five runs this year.
Run differential isn’t perfect, obviously. But it does indicate that Oakland has suffered some poor luck this season. Other teams that feature similar run differentials, like the Cleveland Indians or Arizona Diamondbacks, are much closer to .500 than Oakland.
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The higher ups in Oakland probably realize that, and recognize that Melvin hasn’t lost the clubhouse during a poor season. Given the success he’s had in the past, it makes sense to keep him around.
Things may not have gone well this season, but Melvin is still the right man to lead the Athletics going forward.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik