OAKLAND, Calif. . -- Bartolo Colon will be welcomed back to the Oakland Athletics with no hard feelings -- at least by newly crowned AL Manager of the Year Bob Melvin. Melvin said Wednesday he is "thrilled" the right-hander will return to the club next year after his 2012 season ended with a 50-game suspension Aug. 22 for testing positive for testosterone. Colon received a $3 million, one-year contract Nov. 3, though he still has five games remaining on his suspension when the 2013 season starts. While the new deal includes incentives for starts and innings, he also has potential bonuses for relief appearances -- though Melvin said Colon would prepare as a starter and will be "embraced" by the reigning AL West champions. "Hes gone through his penalty," Melvin said. "Its one thing if its a guy who might be a little bit of a bad guy, but his is a true gentleman, a great guy who just made a mistake. Hell be embraced back here again. He was very important for us. Guys like that can kind of get lost in the shuffle when theyre not here and you get to the post-season, but he was a key guy for us, he really was." The former Cy Young winner went 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA in 24 starts for Oakland last season, his 15th in the majors. As general manager Billy Beane said finding a veteran pitcher to be part of a young rotation -- and for the financial value -- Colon was the perfect fit. Melvin said he last spoke to Colon about three weeks after the suspension began, and they will talk again before the start of spring training in February. "I dont need to talk to Bart. I will call him at some point in time," Melvin said. "I got very close to him, and we had a nice conversation and he was very remorseful when all that went down. I think in the back of his mind he was hoping this situation would arise for him again, and it did." As assistant general manager David Forst said Wednesday the team remains in contact with shortstop Stephen Drew. Oakland declined to pick up their half of a $10 million mutual option late last month. Drew is seeking a long-term deal. "Were still in touch," Forst said. "Were looking to do something at that position, and hes still an option." [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-justin-blalock-jersey-i... Blalock Jersey . The 21-year-old Jamaican scored a goal in each half Sunday as the Whitecaps defeated the Houston Dynamo 3-1 in Major League Soccer play. . Harris made five starts for Cleveland last season, averaging 6.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-julio-jones-jersey-ru-1... . Lane Scheidl scored twice for Regina (6-7-1), while Colten Mayor added a goal and an assist. Mackenzie Skapski made 17 saves in defeat for Kootenay (4-8-0), which lost defenceman Spencer Wand early after he was handed a game misconduct for a fight with Reginas Trent Oullette. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-harry-douglas-jersey-wu... Douglas Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. .C. -- Michael Jordans Bobcats are the NBAs most surprising team so far this season.Torontos Daniel Nestor and new partner Mahesh Bhupathi of India opened the Australian Open doubles draw with a victory on Wednesday in Melbourne. Nestor and Bhupathi, the fifth seeds on the mens side, defeated unseeded Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-4. Nestor, who won the Australian Open doubles crown in 2002, was playing his first Grand Slam match with his neew partner, the 38-year-old Bhupathi. [url=http://www.falconsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-jonathan-babineaux-jers... Babineaux Jersey. . Nestor won 10 career Grand Slam doubles titles playing with previous partners Mark Knowles and Nenad Zimonjic. His most recent partnership with Max Mirnyi ran through 2011 and 2012. Nestor and Bhupathi will play the winner of Thursdays first round match between Brian Baker/Raven Klaasen and Victor Hanescu/Martin Klizan. ' ' '