A’s announce new deals for Bob Melvin, Billy Beane, David Forst

Oakland Athletics' Executive VP of Baseball Operations Billy Beane, center, gestures beside General Manager David Forst, left, and Manager Bob Melvin during a media conference Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in San Francisco. After a 97-65 regular season, Oakland lost the wild-card game 7-2 to New York on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) less Oakland Athletics' Executive VP of Baseball Operations Billy Beane, center, gestures beside General Manager David Forst, left, and Manager Bob Melvin during a media conference Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in San ... more Photo: Ben Margot / Associated Press Photo: Ben Margot / Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close A’s announce new deals for Bob Melvin, Billy Beane, David Forst 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

After one of the A’s most intriguing and surprisingly successful seasons, the team’s baseball leadership — vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane, general manager David Forst and manager Bob Melvin — received multiyear contract extensions Monday.

Melvin’s deal is through 2021 with a 2022 club option and will put him among the top four or five best-paid managers at roughly $3.5 million per season, The Chronicle has learned. Forst’s extension is for four years and will take him through 2023.

Beane’s contract length is unknown but the expectation is that his long-term involvement will continue indefinitely, particularly considering his ownership stake in the club.

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The A’s 97 wins in 2018 were their most since 2002, and the club made the playoffs for the first time since 2014 after three consecutive last-place finishes.

Beane, Forst and Melvin were under contract through only 2019, leading to concerns inside and outside the organization that the A’s, who have made sweeping changes throughout the business side of the club, might disband the long-entrenched front office, in which Beane has held the top spot since 1998.

Melvin’s deal was of particular interest, because ownership had denied the Yankees the opportunity to interview him for their managerial opening last winter but did not extend or sweeten his contract at the time.

The A’s went 75-87 in 2017; this is the third time a club managed by Melvin has increased its win total by 20 games or more, including the Diamondbacks, who went from 51-111 in 2004 to 77-85 in 2005, and Oakland, which won 74 games in 2011 and 94 in 2012 en route to the AL West title.

In a vote of major-league managers, Melvin, who turned 57 on Sunday, recently was named the American League Manager of the Year by the Sporting News. He is a front-runner for BBWAA Manager of the Year honor next month.

In seven-plus seasons, Melvin’s teams have advanced to the postseason four times, and his record with Oakland is 634-599. The win total is third in franchise history behind Connie Mack (3,582) and Tony La Russa (798).

Beane’s 20-year tenure leading Oakland’s front office has included six division titles and three wild-card appearances; the club has won 90 or more games nine times in that span. Overall, the A’s are 1,703-1,607 under Beane, 56, and gained additional recognition with the book and movie “Moneyball,” about how Beane and the rest of the front office fashioned the 2002 team.

The former A’s outfielder now is regarded as one of the seminal figures in the explosion of advanced metrics and analytics, not just in baseball but in all professional sports and other industries.

Forst, 42, has spent 19 years with the A’s and has served as the team’s general manager for three years, but has held the No. 2 position in the front office for 15 seasons. He has been the target of interest by numerous other teams for more than a decade but has turned down multiple opportunities to interview for GM positions. In recent years, he has made it known that he is not interested in working for any other clubs.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser