BREAKING NEWS

I'm pretty sure this ain't an April Fools joke. According to the LA Times, Billy Beane has signed a contract extension and has been made a part owner of the Oakland Athletics.

The A's are expected to announce today that Beane has agreed to a contract extension through 2012 and has been granted a share of ownership, a distinction without recent precedent among major league general managers.

The rest of the article pretty much says what we already know, Wolff and his group is committed to keeping the A's in the Bay Area, preferably Oakland and so on and so forth. However...

"Do we pay $100 million for a player or do we extend Billy's contract?" Wolff said. "We think, if the past is prologue, we're very comfortable. We think we've made the right decision in getting Billy to stay with us long-term, just like you'd like to have a player finish his career with you."

Even though the A's ownership group is now the third richest ownership group in the MLB don't expect the A's to up their payroll. But I am excited for what's in store for the Green and Gold.

Congratulations Billy, you've come a long way from being a bench player of the '89 World Series Champs, the Oakland Athletics. From player, to scout, to GM, to owner. Awesome.