Robert Douglas Melvin (born August 8, 1952) is a Canadian front-office executive in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) who previously served as the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Texas Rangers (1995–2001) and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(2002–2015). He is currently a senior advisor for the Brewers.

Baseball career

1972–2002

A former minor-league

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

who played in the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s from 1972–78, Melvin began his front office career with the Yankees as an assistant scouting director, then spent nearly a decade (1987–94) as assistant general manager and director of player development of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. In his first general manager posting, with the Texas Rangers from 1994–2001, the Rangers qualified for the postseason three times—the only times the franchise had done so to that point in its history. Melvin spent the 2002 season as a consultant for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

before taking the reins in Milwaukee.

2003–present

On September 26, 2002, Melvin became general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2007, he ended the franchise's 15-year streak of losing seasons when the Brewers finished above .500, although a late-season slide eliminated them from the

NL Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

and wild-card races. In , Melvin moved the Brewers into Wild Card and, briefly,

contention with his bold, mid-season pickup of pitcher

CC Sabathia Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the New York Yankees. He also played for the Cleveland Indians and Milwauke ...

, but another late-season losing streak, which left the Brewers out of contention for their division title and tied for the NL Wild Card, caused Melvin and club owner

Mark Attanasio Mark L. Attanasio (born September 29, 1957) is an American businessman from The Bronx who is the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. In September 2004, he reached a deal, on behalf of an investment group, to purchase the Brewers from the fam ...

to fire

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Ned Yost Edgar Frederick Yost III (; born August 19, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals. He played for the Brewers, Texas Rangers, and Montreal Expos. Early life Yost was born o ...

with 12 games left in the regular season. Melvin and Attanasio named the Brewers' third base coach

Dale Sveum Dale Curtis Sveum ( ; born November 23, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He most recently served as the bench coach for the Kansas City Royals. As a player, Sveum saw action in 12 major league seasons bet ...

the interim manager for the regular season's final 12 games, and the Brewers clinched the National League Wild Card on the last day of the season, giving the team its first playoff berth since 1982. After the 2010 season, Melvin made three separate transactions that helped the Brewers get to the playoffs in 2011. On December 6, 2010, he acquired starting pitcher,

Shaun Marcum Shaun Michal Marcum (born December 14, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and Cleveland Indians. In 2015, he became the ...

. On December 19,

Zack Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and has also played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los An ...

, who won the Cy Young Award in 2009, was acquired along with shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. On March 27, 2011, Melvin acquired outfielder

Nyjer Morgan Nyjer Jamid Morgan (born July 2, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cleveland Indians, in Nippon Pro ...

. In the same offseason, Melvin released three of the team's most ineffective starters in

Jeff Suppan Jeffrey Scot Suppan (; born January 2, 1975), is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current professional baseball coach who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, ...

Dave Bush David Thomas Bush (born November 9, 1979) is an American professional baseball coach and former pitcher. He is currently the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). The right-hander played in MLB (–; ) for the Tor ...

, and Doug Davis. In 2011, the Brewers won the most games in franchise history with 96 victories. In so doing, the Brewers continued to do well offensively with stars

Prince Fielder Prince Semien Fielder (born May 9, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He was selected i ...

and

Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and f ...

as well as Nyjer Morgan. Along with starters

Yovani Gallardo Yovani Gallardo (pronounced gah-YAR-doh; born February 27, 1986) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft out of Trimble Technical High ...

Randy Wolf Randall Christopher Wolf (born August 22, 1976) nicknamed "Wolfie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, ...

Chris Narveson Christopher Gregg Narveson (; born December 20, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Miami Marlins, and in Nippon Professiona ...

, the newly acquired Greinke and Marcum pitched considerably more victories than the Brewers' starting pitchers the year before. The Brewers bullpen was also stellar, led by closer

John Axford John Berton Axford (born April 1, 1983), nicknamed "Ax Man", is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pitts ...

, who set two new franchise records with most consecutive converted saves (42) and most saves in a season (46). Furthermore, Melvin added Francisco Rodriguez before the mid-season 2011 trading deadline; Rodriguez repeatedly pitched in the eighth inning as Axford's set-up man. Along with Rodriguez, Melvin obtained veteran infielder,

Jerry Hairston Jr. Jerry Wayne Hairston Jr. (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers ...

, who provided timely hitting to bolster an already-solid Milwaukee Brewer offense. As a result, the Milwaukee Brewers won their division for only the second time in their history and made their fourth playoff appearance in 2011. With Nyjer Morgan's game-winning hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a dramatic tenth inning, the Brewers won the divisional playoff series on October 7, 2011. In the National League Championship Series, the Brewers lost to their divisional foe, the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

in six games. On August 11, 2015, Melvin transitioned to an advisory role, leaving his general manager position. Melvin is currently the senior special advisor with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Honors and awards

In 1996, Melvin received ''The Sporting News'' Executive of the Year Award, as general manager of the Rangers. In 2011, as general manager of the Brewers, Melvin was named by ''Baseball America'' as its Major League Executive of the Year. In 2012, Melvin was inducted into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. His ...

. In 2018, Melvin was inducted onto the

Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor The Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor is an exhibit located at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that commemorates baseball players, coaches, executives, and broadcasters who have made significant contributions to the Milwaukee Brewers ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melvin, Doug 1952 births Living people Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball executives Baltimore Orioles executives Milwaukee Brewers executives New York Yankees executives Texas Rangers executives People from Chatham-Kent Gulf Coast Pirates players Niagara Falls Pirates players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players West Haven Yankees players Canadian sports executives and administrators Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees