PHOENIX -- Going into the final season of his contract in 2026, two-time defending NL Manager of the Year Pat Murphy didn’t want to be anywhere other than Milwaukee. The Brewers didn’t want anyone else at the helm. Now the sides have reached an agreement to keep everybody happy.
Murphy, 67, has agreed to a three-year deal for 2026-28 that includes a club option for '29, multiple sources confirmed to MLB.com on Thursday. The agreement, which was not immediately confirmed by the club, was first reported by The Athletic.
“I’m sincerely grateful I have a locker,” Murphy said in a text message to MLB.com on Thursday afternoon. “Getting to be part of the Brewers' organization for the last 10 years has been a great journey. Getting to continue in his position is an honor.”
If the option is exercised, it would carry the Syracuse, N.Y., native through his age-70 season, which seems right in his prime for one of the most unique coaches and characters of today’s game. The Brewers have won the past two of their three consecutive division titles with Murphy at the helm, having promoted him following Craig Counsell’s departure to manage the Cubs following the 2023 season. Prior to that, Murphy was Counsell’s bench coach in Milwaukee from 2016-23. Prior to that, Murphy was Counsell’s college coach at Notre Dame, part of a long and illustrious career in the collegiate ranks that saw Murphy rack up 1,000 victories at four schools.
Questions about how his style would translate to the Major League ranks were answered in 2024, when the Brewers bucked projections in the wake of trading Corbin Burnes to the Orioles to go from 92 wins in Counsell’s final season to 93 wins under Murphy, who became the first Milwaukee manager to win the Baseball Writers' Association of America’s Manager of the Year Award, an honor that dates back to 1983.
The 2025 season was even more successful. Once again expected to take a step back after trading All-Star closer Devin Williams to the Yankees, Murphy’s Brewers instead led the Majors and set a franchise record with 97 wins and a third consecutive division crown. They were under .500 as late as the final week of May but put together an eight-game winning streak that spanned the end of May and beginning of June, followed by an 11-game winning streak in July and a franchise-record 14-game winning streak in August to vault to the top of the standings, joining the 1982 Brewers as the only clubs in franchise history to lead the Majors in regular-season victories.
Then the Brewers snapped a streak of six consecutive losing series in the postseason, outlasting Counsell’s Cubs in a best-of-five NL Division Series before falling to the Dodgers in the NLCS.
Murphy is always quick to credit his players, coaches and partners in the front office -- or, “the ivory tower,” as he calls it -- but he has surely played a role in the Brewers’ sustained success. Folksy and blunt with both praise and constructive criticism, and prone to producing baked goods from the pocket of his hoodie, he skippered a team that ranked third in the Majors in runs scored and second in ERA, while matching the franchise record by using 17 starting pitchers.
"Everybody loves Murph; there's no doubt," Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said earlier this week. "But we don't talk about contracts. We do talk about stability. We've had a huge amount of stability here, and that's the goal."