Bob Melvin, Athletics Agree on 1-Year Contract Extension

The Oakland Athletics and manager Bob Melvin reached an agreement on a one-year contract extension to keep him with the A's organization through the 2019 MLB season.

Oakland announced the new deal on its official Twitter account Thursday.

Melvin took over the Athletics' managerial job midway through the 2011 campaign following the dismissal of Bob Geren. He's accumulated a 535-532 record across six-plus seasons in charge, including a 73-85 mark with four games left in 2017.

The 55-year-old former major league catcher previously served as manager of the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. His overall record is 1,028-1,040 across 14 years. He's also won Manager of the Year honors in both leagues (2007 with Arizona and 2012 with the A's).

Although Oakland finds itself in the AL West basement this year, the lack of victories can't be placed on the shoulders of Melvin, who was working with a patchwork roster as part of the club's rebuilding efforts.

Last December, the California native talked about trying to balance the desire to win now while understanding Oakland's long-term vision.

"For the first time, actually bringing guys in and sustaining them and keeping them here, that's going to be the focus," Melvin told reporters. "So as soon as we can get a site down and start working towards that, now all of a sudden your strategy changes ... and you're developing guys that you hope to keep, down the road you'll be signing some free agents that you hope to sign for multiple years, and keeping a team together more so than we have in the past. That's important to sustaining success."

It's going to take some time for the Athletics to complete the retooling process, though. Giving Melvin an extension now rather than forcing him to enter the 2018 season under lame-duck status shows the organization is confident he can lead them through the rebuild and back up the standings.

Financial details of the extension weren't immediately released.