The Milwaukee Brewers are signing manager Pat Murphy to a three-year contract, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. The deal is a new contract, not an extension, because it reworks the final year on Murphy’s previous agreement, according to Rosenthal.
Murphy’s contract was set to expire after the 2026 season, but he is now signed through 2028, with a club option for 2029. The agreement will include $8.95 million of new money and make Murphy one of the highest paid managers in Major League Baseball, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.
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Murphy, 67, earned National League Manager of the Year honors the past two seasons, in which the Brewers won 93 and 97 games and two NL Central titles. He’s the only manager besides Bobby Cox (2004-05 with the Atlanta Braves) to win Manager of the Year in consecutive seasons.
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Milwaukee’s 97-65 record last season was the best in MLB, despite the team being 6.5 games out of first place on May 25. But a second-half surge (41-25) boosted the Brewers to another division title. Milwaukee went on to lose to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
With Murphy’s contract up after after the coming season, Brewers team owner Mark Attanasio was asked earlier this week about a new deal for the manager. He evaded the issue, saying “we don’t talk about contracts,” but apparently the team and manager had a new agreement in the works.
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Murphy also avoided the topic of a new contract when asked about it before spring training.
Prior to being named manager, Murphy was Craig Counsell’s bench coach in Milwaukee for eight seasons. He was promoted when Counsell left to become the manager of the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers defeated the Cubs in the NLDS last season.
In his two seasons as Brewers manager, Murphy has compiled a 190-134 record. He recorded a 42-54 record as interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015, when he took over after Bud Black was fired.