The A’s core young group of players, the bunch the team is building around - Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Chad Pinder, Franklin Barreto, Bruce Maxwell et. al. - will have their manager in place at least through 2019.
Oakland announced Thursday that manager Bob Melvin’s deal has been extended through 2019, which puts him on a par with vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane and general manager David Forst.
Melvin, who won American League manager of the year honors in his first full season with Oakland in 2012, is 535-532 since becoming the A’s interim since taking over on June 9, 2011.