Brewers general manager Doug Melvin relieved of duties

Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin is on his way out, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

#Brewers GM Doug Melvin leaving as GM. Story comung jsonline.

— Tom (@Haudricourt) August 11, 2015

Melvin will stay with the Brewers in an advisory role through their search for a new general manager, but the timeframe for that is uncertain, Haudricourt reports.

Melvin had been the Brewers' general manager since 2002, and took Milwaukee to the playoffs for the first time since 1982 with a wild card berth in 2008. He also led the Brewers to an NL Central title and NLCS appearance in 2011, where they lost to the Cardinals in six games. Milwaukee had five winning seasons in Melvin's 14-year tenure.

Milwaukee's two playoff appearances under Melvin were thanks in large part to a pair of bold moves he made. In 2008, he acquired pitcher CC Sabathia at the trade deadline in exchange for Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson, Matt LaPorta and a player to be named later that would become Michael Brantley. Sabathia had a 1.65 ERA in 130⅔ innings down the stretch for the Brewers.

Prior to the 2011 season, Melvin acquired starter Zack Greinke from the Royals for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. He then flipped Greinke to the Angels in 2012 for Ariel Pena, Johnny Hellweg and Jean Segura.

For Melvin's replacement, the Brewers will look for someone younger with a background in analytics, in the mold of the Rockies' Jeff Bridich or the Dodgers' Farhan Zaidi, according to Adam McCalvy, the Brewers' beat reporter for MLB.com:

#Brewers have hired executive search firm Korn Ferry to organize GM search. Will target younger candidates with knowledge of analytics.

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) August 11, 2015

One thing that will be made clear to candidates to replace Melvin is that Brewers owner Mark Attanasio views Craig Counsell as their manager going forward, Haudricourt reports. Milwaukee is 41-47 since Counsell replaced Ron Roenicke as manager after a 7-18 start to the season. Change is on the way for the Brewers, but at least they know they will have one key piece going forward.