Topic: Doug Melvin

Douglas Robert Melvin (born August 8, 1952) is a Canadian front office executive in Major League Baseball who currently serves as the general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League. He has held the position since October 2002, when he replaced Dean Taylor.

A former minor league pitcher who played in the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees farm systems 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. 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 48-year history. Melvin spent the 2002 season as a consultant for the Boston Red Sox before taking the reins in Milwaukee.

As GM in Milwaukee, Melvin ended a 15-year streak of non-winning seasons when the Brewers finished above .500 in 2007, although a late-season slide eliminated them from the NL Central and Wild Card races. In 2008, Melvin moved the Brewers into Wild Card and, briefly, NL Central contention with his bold, mid-season pickup of pitcher CC Sabathia, 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 to fire manager Ned Yost with 12 games left in the regular season. Melvin and Attanasio named the Brewers' third base coach Dale Sveum 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.