General Manager Doug Melvin

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Brewers' work has just begun

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Brewers owner says contract extension for Melvin in the works

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- General manager Doug Melvin is negotiating a long-term contract extension with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Melvin took over as GM on Sept. 26, 2002, and has been able to find good players on the waiver wire to plug roster holes while the organization develops minor league prospects.

The Brewers entered the final week of the season within reach of their first non-losing season since 1992.


``Doug Melvin's contract is absolutely being extended,'' owner Mark Attanasio said before the Brewers-Reds ``free admission'' game at Miller Park. ``We're just working through the details. I had hoped to get that done before the season was over. Given everything going on, we didn't get to it. But my guess is in the first month-and-a-half, we'll have something done there.''

Attanasio wouldn't say what, if anything, was a sticking point.

``When you work on something like that you, you try to work on the whole, so it's all under discussion now in terms of financial terms and length and all that,'' Attanasio said.'' But it will definitely be a meaningful extension. Doug has done an unbelievable job. I think everybody here recognizes that.''

After Thursday's game, Melvin, 54, told The Associated Press a deal has been in the works since midsummer.

``We've been talking about this for the last two months, but Mark got busy with other things. But it will get done soon,'' Melvin said.

After Melvin signs off on his new deal, he'll likely extend the contract of manager Ned Yost, whose club option for next year has been exercised.

When Attanasio purchased the team from the Selig family late last year, he increased player payroll from a league-low $27.5 million in 2004 to more than $40 million this season and he gave himself a three-year window to build a team that could be consistently competitive.

He said this year's performance increased his hopes for 2006.

``My expectations, as well as the expectations of the community, have been raised, obviously, because of what we've done this year,'' he said.

``We need to bring in, generally, younger players and develop younger players we already have that can help us over the next three to five seasons,'' he said. ``And with that, I would expect the payroll will go up.''

One possibility will be for Melvin to dangle slugger Carlos Lee, who has one year at $8.5 million left on his contract, as trade bait over the winter rather than give him a huge extension.

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Office reshuffling

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin announced the promotions of assistant director of scouting Tom Flanagan to director of administration for scouting and Minor League development, and assistant director of player development Scott Martens to business manager for Minor League operations.

That means Melvin and the Brewers are looking for new No. 2's in scouting and player development.

"I would like to find somebody with field experience," Melvin said.

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Club has top-down evaluations
Coaches meet with front office to discuss personnel

PHOENIX -- One by one on Tuesday, Brewers coaches got to play general manager.
The club's real general manager, Doug Melvin, and assistant GM Gord Ash met individually with manager Ned Yost and his coaches at the team hotel, part of the organization's annual top-down evaluation.

"We go over each player on the ballclub," said first-base coach Dave Nelson. "Are we happy with them? Do they need to do better? What do they need to improve on? It's all questions pertaining to how to make our ballclub better."

As an Atlanta Braves coach for a dozen seasons under manager Bobby Cox, Yost participated in a similar annual meeting but it was stretched over three days and included the entire coaching staff. Nelson said he participated in similar en masse meetings with his former organizations.

Why do it one at a time?

"You're more apt to be open in a one-on-one meeting than you are in an open forum," Nelson said.

That's exactly what Melvin said he was looking for.

"When you're in a room with everyone, I think that some guys are more likely to sit back and not say anything," Melvin said. "This way, guys can feel free to say what they really think about a player."

On Wednesday, the staff will convene for a group meeting.

According to Yost, Tuesday's sit-downs were not meant to evaluate individual coaches, and he, Melvin and Ash have yet to discuss the fate of the staff. It has remained in tact since the beginning of 2003, but only Yost and pitching coach Mike Maddux are signed through 2006.

The staff also includes bench coach Rich Dauer, hitting coach Butch Wynegar, third-base coach Rich Donnelly and longtime bullpen coach Bill Castro. If Baltimore has a managerial vacancy at season's end, longtime Orioles player Dauer, could get consideration, and Donnelly has strong ties to Jim Leyland, whose name has come up as a candidate for several openings, including Pittsburgh's.

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Melvin staying
GM will get 'meaningful' extension, Attanasio says

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers expect to finalize a contract extension for general manager Doug Melvin before the end of November, according to the team's owner.
"Doug Melvin's contract is absolutely being extended," Mark Attanasio said at Miller Park on Thursday. "We're just working through the details of that."

"I'd hoped to get that done before the season was over, but given everything going on, we didn't get to it," Attanasio said. "My guess is in the first four to six weeks of the offseason we'll have something done there."

The length of the deal and financial terms are still being hammered out, though Attanasio said, "it will definitely be a meaningful extension." Melvin's current four-year contract runs through the end of 2006.

As the Brewers slumped to a 106-loss season in September 2002, Melvin was hired and soon thereafter brought in assistant GM Gord Ash and manager Ned Yost. The Brewers lost 94 games in each of the first two seasons under that leadership but have broken through in 2005 and, entering play Thursday, had a good chance to snap the team's streak of 12 losing seasons.

Only the Cleveland Indians have squeezed more wins per payroll dollar than this year's Brewers.

"Doug has done an unbelievable job and I think everyone here recognizes that," Attanasio said.

He and Ash, along with the club's scouting staff, have been particularly deft in their waiver claims and minor league free agent signings. Scott Podsednik, Dan Kolb, Doug Davis, Brady Clark and Derrick Turnbow all became key members of the club after getting a shot from Melvin & Co., and the team is now mixing in some of its highly-touted prospects.

"Doug's plan that he formulated when he got here was the right plan," Yost said. "Doug knew it, and when I got here, I knew it. You don't deviate from it."

Melvin's current deal expires after the 2006 season. The team recently picked up Yost's option so he also is under contract through the end of 2006.

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Brewers Chats

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Brewers work to extend Melvin's deal
Owner Attanasio determined to keep GM in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE -- Amid rumors that he is being considered for the vacancy in Boston, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin will "very soon" have a contract extension that keeps him in Milwaukee.
So said team owner Mark Attanasio on Friday. After helping to re-introduce Hall of Famer Robin Yount as bench coach, Attanasio was expected to meet with some of the club's financial officers, possibly to finalize Melvin's new deal.

"I expect that he'll be with us for a number of years going forward," Attanasio said. "He's a perfect person for this operation, and I think he likes the autonomy he has here."

Autonomy -- or lack thereof -- may have been a contributing factor to Red Sox GM Theo Epstein's stunning decision this week to leave his hometown franchise. Names of potential replacements immediately surfaced in the Boston media, among them Melvin, who has a history with current Sox executive Larry Lucchino from their days in Baltimore.

"By the way, I'm delighted we have a general manager who is in demand," Attanasio said. "It's the same as [before] we extended Ben Sheets, there were a lot of people who said, 'The Boston Red Sox are going to get Ben Sheets!'

"But while I like that the Boston Red Sox like Ben Sheets, we were going to keep Ben Sheets. And I love that they want to get our general manager -- if reports are true -- but we're going to keep Doug Melvin."

Attanasio declined the notion that the timing of Melvin's extension has anything to do with the situation in Boston. As of Friday, the Red Sox had not even asked for permission to speak to the Brewers' baseball boss.

"As it turns out, our process is being concluded just as all of this stuff is out there," Attanasio said. "Someone might look at it and say, 'Gee, discussions must have intensified.' But we don't operate like that."

For his part, Melvin remained coy. He is under contract with the Brewers through the end of 2006.

"The focus is for Mark and I to continue to work on an extension," Melvin said. "That's my goal -- to focus on that first."

If another offer came along, would he listen?

"I really can't, because I have a contract for next year," Melvin said. "My goal is to work out a deal here and I think we can do that."

Melvin is to travel on Saturday for the general managers' meetings in Palm Springs, Calif. He and assistant general manager Gord Ash assembled a Brewers team that in 2005 finished 81-81, the franchise's first non-losing season since 1992. Melvin is credited with a number of the team's deft waiver-wire and Minor League free agent pickups including Scott Podsednik, Brady Clark, Derrick Turnbow, Doug Davis and Dan Kolb.

Currently, Melvin, Ash and manager Ned Yost are working under contracts that expire after next season.

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Attanasio intent on keeping Melvin

Still in his first year as owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mark Attanasio continues to learn about the proper timing in acting on certain matters in the game of baseball.

And Attanasio understands that the time to extend general manager Doug Melvin's contract is now.

With Melvin's name starting to surface in regard to general manager openings in Boston and Los Angeles, with the Dodgers, the Brewers don't need such distractions in their quest to return to a contending mode as early as next season.

With that in mind, a three-year extension of Melvin's contract is expected to be announced in the very near future.

"Doug really wants to be here, and I want him to be here, and we both know that," said Attanasio, who arrived Friday to attend the Robin Yount news conference as well as participate in the final day of weeklong organization meetings.

"We both have a commitment to his being here. There's a lot that we've been working on, and neither of us has let (his contract) get in the way of all the other important business we have.

"Apart from all of the other things going on, the intersection of discussions are such that this is virtually at a point of resolution. I love the fact that we have a general manager that's in demand. I like the challenge of having to motivate and retain the people we have."

Melvin, who has a year remaining on his original four-year deal, said he had not been in contact with either the Red Sox or Dodgers.

"My interest is here," said Melvin. "I think Mark and I will be talking in the next week to try to get something done. It's not something where we want rumors out there.

"We plan on trying to work things out here."

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Brewers Extend GM Melvin's Contract

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Brewers' GM has big idea

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Melvin disputes Jenkins talk
GM says he's not shopping veteran

The hot stove league was mostly lukewarm at the general managers' annual meetings this week in California but that didn't stop the first unfounded speculation involving the Milwaukee Brewers from surfacing.

"It's a horrendous rumor," said Brewers general manager Doug Melvin.

ESPN.com reported that the Brewers were shopping rightfielder Geoff Jenkins to interested parties, which Melvin said was "totally false." Jenkins, 31, batted .292 with 25 home runs and 86 runs batted in last season and has two years plus a club option remaining on his contract, worth a guaranteed $15 million.

"That (rumor) supposedly came from an NL scout," said Melvin. "With where we are as a team now and where we're trying to go, I can't see trading either of our big guys (Jenkins and Carlos Lee) at this point."

Melvin spent much of his time at the meetings talking with the representatives of infielder Jeff Cirillo and right-hander Rick Helling, two free agents the Brewers are trying to re-sign. Melvin expressed optimism that both will be back in Milwaukee next year.

"I think we have a good chance of keeping them," said Melvin, who has no plans to make an offer to his other free agent, third baseman Wes Helms. "They added a veteran presence to our clubhouse and both made good little comebacks on the field."

Cirillo, 36, rebounded from down years in Seattle and San Diego to bat .281 with four homers and 23 RBI in 185 at-bats for the Brewers last season. He missed two months with a broken bone in his left hand but otherwise did a solid job when called upon.

Helling, 34, spent most of the year at Class AAA Nashville but was thrust into the Brewers' rotation in September when Ben Sheets was out with an injury. He went 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA in 15 appearances (seven starts) and struck out 42 batters in 49 innings.

"He'll probably have a chance to make our rotation," said Melvin. "If not, he could pitch out of the pen. We'll keep our options open there."

There has been speculation that free agent lefty Jarrod Washburn, a Wisconsin native, is interested in playing for the Brewers but Melvin said he had not spoken with Washburn's agent, Scott Boras. Melvin said he has no intention of spending $8 million to $10 million a year on a multi-year deal for a free-agent pitcher after last winter's crop mostly crashed and burned.

"A lot of teams got burned on pitching deals last winter," said Melvin. "You have to weigh that against the money they're asking for."

Melvin said he was more inclined to spend less money - probably $4 million - to keep right-hander Tomo Ohka, one of his arbitration-eligible players. Ohka went 7-6 with a 4.35 ERA in 22 appearances (20 starts) last season after coming in a trade with Washington for second baseman Junior Spivey.

"If we hadn't picked up Ohka in June, we'd probably be looking for that kind of pitcher this winter," said Melvin.

Clubs showed interest in Brewers first baseman Lyle Overbay at the meetings but Melvin said he received no offers that tempted him. The Brewers are somewhat leery of dealing Overbay and committing to 20-year-old rookie Prince Fielder at first base but might feel more comfortable doing so because of the performance of Corey Hart in the Arizona Fall League.

Hart, who has played the outfield in Class AAA the past two seasons, led the Peoria Javelinas with a .353 batting average, with five home runs and 14 RBI in 68 at-bats. He had a .405 on-base percentage and .647 slugging percentage, for a fabulous OPS of 1.052.

Hart played the outfield, third base and first base in Arizona. Drafted as a first baseman out of high school, he could provide a right-handed-hitting complement to the left-handed-hitting Fielder if Melvin finds a deal for Overbay he can't refuse.

At the very least, Melvin said Hart put himself in position to make the Brewers' roster next spring as a backup in the outfield and infield corners.

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Melvin, Harris making best of what's around

An online poll in this newspaper recently asked which of Milwaukee's newly re-upped general managers, the Brewers' Doug Melvin or the Bucks' Larry Harris, has done a better job. It wasn't altogether surprising that Melvin was favored by almost 69%, although the right answer would be that both are performing at a high level.

Comparing their jobs isn't instructive because the NBA has a salary cap, while baseball does not. More than half of the NBA's teams qualify for the playoffs; it's about a quarter in baseball, which makes laughable the argument that the Brewers' .500 finish this season was somehow a celebration of mediocrity. The people who advance that inane notion just don't get how hard it is to win in baseball, or at least to pull yourself up at the rate the Brewers have advanced against the economic odds that are beginning to soften.

Harris has public-relations problems, whereas the low-key Melvin flies under the public radar while making all the right moves. That does not mean Harris isn't hitting far more than he misses.

Compare Harris with his predecessor, Ernie Grunfeld, who helped the Bucks reach the 2001 Eastern Conference finals. But when Grunfeld's legacy is scrutinized, the balance of his decisions tips toward the unfavorable. Three of the franchise's biggest mistakes - the Ray Allen trade, the Anthony Mason signing and the Tim Thomas contract extension - happened on Grunfeld's watch, although at least two were heavily influenced by the will of George Karl.

The flamboyant Harris has been vilified for the way he handled the Terry Porter firing and the Jamaal Magloire-Desmond Mason trade, but when you consider what he has done to clean up the economic mess left behind, his moves, on balance, justified the extension.

Harris dumped Anthony Mason and Jason Caffey. He got rid Thomas' outrageous salary with the Keith Van Horn blockbuster. Then he removed Van Horn's payroll burden in a trade with Dallas, thus making it possible to re-sign Michael Redd and acquire Bobby Simmons. Eventually, the Magloire trade should prove that the Bucks have a much better chance of getting back to the playoffs with a big rebounder-defender than with another 'tweener.

Harris erred by letting Damon Jones go after one season, but the GM recovered by giving Mo Williams, a terrific backup to T.J. Ford, a chance. He also should've handled the Porter situation better, and, in the case of Desmond Mason, he will learn with experience that he cannot tell players what they want to hear.

Melvin, meanwhile, has been the greatest resource available to the Brewers in a long time. Few have done more with less, evident by the organization's ascent from 56 to 81 victories on a Target budget in a Bloomingdale world. The Richie Sexson trade was the steal of the new millennium, the Carlos Lee-Scott Podsednik deal was tremendous for both teams and Melvin's waiver claims - Brady Clark, Derrick Turnbow and Podsednik among them - have bordered on mystical.

The late Harry Dalton got the Brewers into the World Series 23 years ago, but that was an era when the organization had one of baseball's top payrolls. Melvin is also the right person at a time when a franchise such as the Brewers simply cannot afford to make mistakes.

The Bucks are positioned with Harris' moves to return to the playoffs this year, and the Brewers, with Melvin's resourcefulness, are getting there. In this market at this time, you cannot ask for more.

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Melvin's dandy deals keep Brewers on a winning path

Until Doug Melvin really blows one, with something like the baseball equivalent of Dirk Nowitzki for Robert "B-Movie" Traylor, he has more than earned the benefit of the doubt. Until further notice, such will also be the case with the Lyle Overbay trade.

The Milwaukee Brewers general manager's track record is such that you would have to be from the H.L. Mencken School of Cynicism to not trust him. So unless Overbay wins the Triple Crown in Toronto, Prince Fielder eats his way out of baseball and Dave Bush throws batting-practice fastballs, you almost have to believe that this will be another step toward the franchise's ground-up restoration.

Actually, the only way this one could turn out to be Melvin's first stinker is if Fielder fails. There has been a lot of talk about getting commensurate value for Overbay, and that's fine because you couldn't just give away such a nice player, but it was all about clearing space for one of the game's most dynamic prospects. It had to be done, and the sooner, the better.

The question now is whether Fielder becomes that slugger for the ages or another Bob Horner, a hitter of immense potential who never realized it because of weight-related injuries. Horner also fielded as if he were staked to a two-foot chain, which is kind of the knock on Fielder the fielder, even if he's quicker than his critics would like to admit.

In that sense, the Brewers are taking a gamble by granting the right side of their infield to a second baseman who has demonstrated a revulsion for ground balls and a first baseman with the appearance of a designated hitter. But when Rickie Weeks and Fielder combine for 75-plus homers and learn to take pride in their defense, no one is going to remember the relative struggles of their formative years.

Fielder's up side as a power / average hitter is staggering. At 14 while hanging out with his now-estranged father, Fielder was hitting batting-practice home runs at Tiger Stadium that caused major-league jaws to drop. At 21, he knows the strike zone to the point that you could already see he was making big-league adjustments in the challenging role as a pinch hitter last season. Another year at Class AAA would've been a waste. The kid is ready.

So anything else the Brewers received - Bush is apparently skilled enough that time with Mike Maddux might solve whatever ailed him in Toronto - could be gravy. It goes back to Melvin's history.

The Richie Sexson trade, the gift that keeps on giving, has sprouted limbs like a family tree. The Brewers have now received 10 players in exchange for a guy who wasn't going to re-sign, including the recycling of Overbay and Junior Spivey for pitching. The remarkable thing there is everyone knew the Brewers were going to move both, and still they somehow got one starting pitcher and another potential starter as the paths for Weeks and Fielder were cleared.

Melvin hears from fans that his three big trades have involved enormously popular players, Sexson, Overbay and Scott Podsednik. And, no doubt, Wednesday's deal was hard for owner Mark Attanasio because he, too, had grown attached to Overbay as a person. But when the market is small and the margin for error is minimal at best, sentimentality has no place in the equation.

Except that the Brewers never seem to test that margin. And history will prove them correct in accelerating Fielder's career.

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Melvin: Deal provides depth

Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin gambled late Wednesday night that the addition of two pitching prospects from the Toronto Blue Jays will be the right mix for a team he believes is loaded with promising young position players.

When Melvin sent first baseman Lyle Overbay to Toronto for pitchers Dave Bush and Zach Johnson and outfielder Gabe Gross, the purpose was not just to open a spot for highly touted first baseman Prince Fielder. Melvin sought to add depth to the organization's weakest area: Pitching.

"We have some very good young positional players," Melvin said by telephone from Dallas Thursday as baseball's winter meetings came to a close. "We felt we had to add pitching to our major league staff this year and pitchers that can grow and develop with these young (position) players. We're hoping they all grow together."

Melvin also is looking to rekindle the fire in reliever Dan Kolb, the one-time All-Star closer for the Brewers who was a flop with Atlanta last season. Kolb, who went to the Braves last offseason in the deal for right-hander Jose Capellan, was re-acquired Wednesday in exchange for right-hander Wes Obermueller.

Melvin called the move "low risk," though he has to convince Kolb over the next 10 days to accept a deal less than the $3.5 million he earned last season.

"He had success here before," Melvin said. "We see no reason why he can't do it again."

The departure of Overbay leaves third baseman Bill Hall as the veteran in a projected starting infield that includes Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks and shortstop J.J. Hardy.

Hall, who turns 26 on Dec. 28, is entering just his third full season. Hardy spent all of his rookie season with the Brewers, while Weeks claimed the regular spot at second after being called up in June. Fielder had 59 at-bats in multiple stays with Milwaukee last season.

"We've talked a lot about our young ballplayers," Melvin said. "Now we have a chance to see them more."

Next on the list is Bush, a 26-year-old right-hander who spent most of last season with the Blue Jays and has pitched 234 innings with a 4.15 ERA in his brief major league career.

Bush, 5-11 last season, is targeted to compete with veteran Rick Helling for the No. 5 starter spot in the rotation. If that doesn't work, Bush will move to the bullpen, where he spent his entire college career at Wake Forest.

"I'm excited about the opportunity," Bush said. "I know (the Brewers are) a young team that obviously is going in the right direction. I feel I can adapt to either role (as a starter or a reliever)."

Jackson, a 6-foot-5 left-hander, could prove to be the sleeper in the deal.

The 32nd pick in the 2004 draft, Jackson, 22, moved up three rungs in the Blue Jays' farm system last season, and Melvin said he would not be surprised if Jackson were with the Brewers sometime next season.

"He's a pitcher who could come on a fast track," Melvin said.

Melvin considered offers from Minnesota and Boston for Overbay, including a trade with the Red Sox that would have included a more established starter such as Bronson Arroyo or Matt Clement. However, Melvin saw those not only as costly deals - Clement is guaranteed $18 million over the next two years - but short-term fixes for an organization that has adopted a long-term outlook.

Gross, a one-time starting quarterback at Auburn, is viewed as a left-handed bat off the bench. He also adds outfield depth.

Kolb indicated the Brewers should not have a problem coming to an agreement with him. His agent, Scott Boras, was scheduled to meet with Melvin Thursday.

Kolb, viewed as a set-up man for closer Derrick Turnbow, never got a handle on the closer's role with the Braves. He was 3-8 with a 5.93 ERA and seven blown saves last season when he was expected to fill the hole in the Atlanta bullpen left by John Smoltz, who returned to the starting rotation. Kolb, however, lost the closer's role by mid-May.

Kolb, who lives in Union Grove, said he welcomes the chance to return to work with pitching coach Mike Maddux, who helped Kolb become an effective reliever for the Brewers in 2003 and '04. Kolb had a 2.55 ERA and converted 60 saves in 67 chances those two years.

"I have no doubt that by the time spring training starts, I'll be back to where I was two years ago," Kolb said.

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Melvin is stacking the deck

While channel surfing this weekend, I came across a really boring 2004 World Series of Poker rerun for the 1000th time.

Not even the comic relief of Norman Chad could keep me from folding.

After succumbing to the fact that it’s only a matter of time before we have to watch a tribute to Johnny Chan on ESPN Classic, I began to wonder what kind of hold’em player Milwaukee Brewers’ general manager Doug Melvin would make?

Based on his track record and recent trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, it’s a safe bet that Melvin would play tight and not bluff often. Once again, Melvin showed Brewer fans that he won’t go all in unless he gives himself multiple ‘outs.’

Melvin flopped the nuts two years ago when he acquired six players including Overbay and Chris Capuano from Arizona for Richie Sexson. At the time the keys to the deal seemed to be Overbay, catcher Chad Moeller and pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. Moeller was expected to develop into a No. 1 catcher.

While Moeller struggled at the plate and De La Rosa struggled to find a role with the pitching staff, Overbay became the Brewers’ No. 3 hitter and Capuano came out of nowhere last season. He won the was No. 3 spot in the rotation and led the Brewers in victories.

Melvin appears to have given the organization multiple chances at success with the current trade as well. While Zach Jackson appears to be the key to the deal, Melvin also covered his bases with Gabe Gross if Corey Hart or Nelson Cruz don’t cut it as backup outfielders in the near future.

Carlos Lee will be a free agent at the end of the season and Geoff Jenkins has two more years left on his deal. As Tom Haudricourt mentioned in his Sunday column, Melvin is building depth in the outfield. Former No. 1 pick David Krynzel hasn’t been consistent at the plate and is probably no more than a fifth outfielder if he reaches the major leagues. The addition of Gross gives the Brewers one more player who has a chance to be more than just a prospect.

In Dave Bush, the Brewers get another flexible young arm. It appears Bush could fill the role of No. 5 starter or middle reliever in April, with Jackson reaching the majors late next season or in April of 2007. Don’t forget that Tomo Ohka could be out of the Brewers’ price range next winter and affordable young pitchers who can start are always at a premium. Bush's role could change in 2007.

If the coveted Jackson becomes the No. 3 starter that the organization projects him to possibly be, the trade will be the latest in an uncanny number of moves that have turned out golden for Melvin and the Brewers.

In addition to getting more young talent, Melvin has put to rest any spring training debate as to how Ned Yost would have gotten enough at-bats to keep both Overbay and Prince Fielder happy.

While it would have been a nice problem to have, it could have become a March distraction that could have carried over to the regular season. Fielder knows he’s going to play. His time is now. The Brewers didn’t move Overbay so Fielder could pinch hit.

Since joining the Brewers prior to the 2003 season, Melvin has been able to avoid any kind of titanic disaster that can sink a season for a small-market franchise. No Jeffrey Hammonds type of signings are on Melvin’s Milwaukee resume. No Joe Johnson contracts have crippled the Brewers’ payroll.

The worst move Melvin has made was when he signed pitcher Todd Ritchie to a one-year deal. He quickly made Brewer fans forget about it when he picked Doug Davis off waivers and he later became the Brewers’ No. 2 starter. The waiver wire has been quite friendly to Melvin and the Brewers.

We all know what happened to Scott Podsednik when the Brewers picked him up. Derrick Turnbow? Let’s just say the Angels could have used him in last year’s postseason.

While Overbay will certainly be missed, Melvin appears to continue to win hands in a poker game that he can’t afford to lose.

If he continues build his chip stack the right way, the Brewers’ organization will be able to play a hand or two that involve wild cards.