A's Extend Bob Geren's Deal

PHOENIX -- The A's announced the previously reported extension of manager Bob Geren's contract Tuesday. Geren, who was in the final year of a three-year deal, is now signed through 2010, with a club option for 2011.

Geren, 47, is 151-172 in his first two years with the A's, his only experience as a big-league manager.

GM Billy Beane, who has been friends with Geren since his playing days, essentially gave Geren a pass for the team's losing records each of the past two seasons. Beane is no dummy. He knows that the A's had a roster full of injured players. And the guys who weren't hurt got traded away.

"He's taken over a team that's gone through a transition the last couple of years," Beane said. "We are happy with a what he's done, his commitment to the job, his passion for the job, his relationships up and down the organization from top to bottom. I hope he's here a long time beyond this contract."

How good of a manager is Geren?

That's hard to say, because the A's have had so many personnel issues in his two years that it would be hard to imagine them winning with John McGraw as their manager. However, players haven't exactly leapt forward to sing his praises either. Former closer Huston Street went public with some criticism of Geren last August. (Not coincidentally, Street was traded.)

You'll recall that there was a "disconnect," in Beane's words, between A's players and Ken Macha before Macha was canned.

The difference here is that Beane and Geren are longtime friends, and he and Macha never really got along.

Don't expect Geren to be going anywhere for a while.