Bob Melvin Receives Permission to Interview With Giants, Emerging as Leading Managerial Candidate
Despite much consternation over these last few weeks, Bob Melvin likely won’t return for a third season with the San Diego Padres after all.
The 61-year-old skipper, hired by San Diego in November 2021, has one year remaining on his contract with the franchise at $4 million for the 2024 campaign. But the three-time Manager of the Year Award winner appears headed out the door for a divisional rival.
Melvin likely won’t be leaving California however, as the Padres granted the San Francisco Giants permission to interview him for their vacant managerial position, as first reported by The Athletic. Thus, he has emerged as the leading favourite to replace Gabe Kapler.
Kapler was relieved of his duties three days before this past season concluded, ending his four-year stint at the helm. The 48-year-old managed his team to an NL-West Division title in 2021 but had since endured consecutive underwhelming performances.
San Diego didn’t fare much better with Melvin over the last two seasons, particularly in 2023, as they finished just two games above .500 at 82-80 after being labelled an early-season World Series favourite. With that, they became one of baseball’s most disappointing headlines of the summer.
Despite failing to deliver on those high expectations, the Padres organization reaffirmed its belief in Melvin and general manager A.J. Preller shortly after the regular season wrapped. However, many throughout the industry felt their relationship was already too far gone.
It didn’t appear that way in the public eye, though, especially after Preller refuted those reports and proclaimed Melvin’s return during his end-of-season press conference.
“Bob is our manager,” Preller told reporters earlier this month. “He’s going to be our manager going forward. A lot’s been said, obviously, in the last few weeks, but both he and I are very excited about the challenge of getting this group back to the postseason next year.”
“From that standpoint, a lot’s been said, and I think with Bob and myself, I think, just even in the last couple days, you get a chance to recap and look at some different things, and both of us feel really good with where things are at moving forward.”
Melvin agreed to take over as the Padres’ skipper while still under contract with the Oakland Athletics – whom he had managed for 11 seasons, including six post-season appearances. If that trend continues this winter, Preller will be on his fifth manager in six seasons.
The Giants have struggled mightily to recapture their glory days in the years following Bruce Bochy’s retirement. Before the future Hall-of-Fame manager arrived, he spent 12 seasons as the Padres’ dugout boss before ascending to a three-time World Series champion.
Since Kapler’s dismissal, San Francisco has reportedly interviewed internal candidates, including bench coach Kai Correa, third base coach Mark Hallberg and assistant coach Alyssa Nakken – the first woman to interview for a big-league managerial job.
If hired, the Giants would become the fifth franchise Melvin has managed in his career, joining the Seattle Mariners (2003-04), Arizona Diamondbacks (2005-09), Athletics (2011-21) and Padres. He owns 1,517 wins and a .516 winning percentage over his 20-year career.
San Diego’s star-studded roster and commitment to winning a championship will likely make its eventual vacant managerial gig a preferred destination. As such, it wouldn’t be shocking if management casts a wide net of potential targets this off-season.
But the Padres won’t be the only team looking to hire a new skipper, as they’ll be joined by the Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels and possibly the Milwaukee Brewers if Craig Counsell departs via free agency.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Gage Skidmore. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.