Oakland Athletics Close to a 3-Year Contract Extension with Bob Melvin

According to the Associated Press, the Oakland Athletics and Bob Melvin are closing in on a three-year contract extension that would keep him with the A's through 2014.

Melvin took over for Bob Geren when he was dismissed in June.

Despite having a 42-48 record, the A's have played noticeably better under Bob Melvin, maintaining competitiveness and intensity late into games.

Melvin, 49, is a California native, was born in Palo Alto, attended Menlo High School in Atherton and played his college ball for the Cal Bears.

The decision to bring Melvin back is not exactly a surprising move. In an article I wrote just a week ago regarding the importance of signing Josh Willingham, I called the decision to bring Melvin back "simply a formality" in regards to the upcoming offseason decision.

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It certainly won’t be the first task on the Oakland Athletics' to-do list this offseason [in regards to the decision to bring back Willingham]; that item will be the removal of the “interim” label in front of Bob Melvin’s manager title...

Both moves would simply be formalities, though. They are decisions that are already assumed...

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The other move I referenced was regarding the decision to promote David Forst to general manager if Billy Beane decides to leave for another GM vacancy (purely speculation as there has been no official announcement of Beane's candidacy for any other general manager positions).

The work Melvin has done in a little over a half season with Oakland is inspiring for A's fans, who already have reason to be excited for 2012 with the emergence of Jemile Weeks and Brandon Allen as potential stars on the right side of the infield and Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill returning to anchor the starting rotation with another year of experience under their belts.

An official announcement is expected from the team in the coming days.