Giants to announce Bob Melvin as manager: Sources

When it comes to stability and continuity in the manager’s office, few franchises can match the San Francisco Giants over the past four decades. Now the Giants are turning to a three-time Manager of the Year to get them back on track.

After undergoing a swift interview process, sources briefed on the matter have revealed to The Athletic on condition of anonymity that the Giants are poised to announce the hiring of Bob Melvin.

The Giants acted swiftly once the Padres granted permission to speak to Melvin. Although Melvin had one year remaining on his contract to manage in San Diego, he was known to clash with Padres GM A.J. Preller. On Monday, Melvin met with several top Giants officials, including executive board member Buster Posey, from the baseball operations and ownership level. Evidently, nothing emerged from those conversations that would dissuade San Francisco officials from considering Melvin, a Bay Area native who will turn 62 on Saturday, as the right choice for the current moment.

Melvin has had a successful second career as a major-league manager, entering his 21st season in the role. It all began when the Seattle Mariners hired him to replace Lou Piniella prior to the 2003 season. He won a National League Manager of the Year award during his five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and added two American League Manager of the Year distinctions while leading the Oakland A’s to the postseason six times during his 11 seasons there from 2011 to 2021.

In light of the A’s decision to enter a teardown mode, Oakland officials allowed Melvin to escape the final year on his contract and accept the job in San Diego. While the Padres managed to limp into the postseason with an 89-73 record in 2022 and even overcome the suspension of Fernando Tatis Jr. to reach the NLCS, they ultimately faced turmoil at all levels of the organization. Despite having a $250 million payroll and a +104 run differential that was superior to every NL team except the Dodgers and Braves, the Padres missed the postseason and finished with an 82-80 record.

Interestingly, the Giants’ top decision-makers did not view the disappointment in San Diego as reflective of Melvin’s abilities. With their own instability to address, as president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is entering the final year of his contract, and a need to reconstruct their clubhouse culture after firing Gabe Kapler in the final weekend of the season, the Giants decided that Melvin was the right choice to lead them forward.

Kapler, Zaidi’s hand-picked choice, had accomplished a lot in his four seasons as the Giants’ manager. He guided the organization through the challenges of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and won the NL Manager of the Year award after leading the Giants to a franchise-record 107 regular-season victories and an unexpected NL West title in 2021. While most of Kapler’s 13-person unconventional coaching staff are expected to be retained under Melvin, something was missing as the Giants struggled towards the end of the season, losing 22 of their final 28 road games and finishing with a disappointing 79-83 record.

The Giants are seeking more continuity in their lineup, rotation, and dugout. Over the past four decades, the Giants have enjoyed a steady lineage of managers, including Roger Craig, Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou, and Bruce Bochy. Bochy, like Melvin, was hired by the Giants despite having a remaining year on his contract with the Padres.

While it remains uncertain how long Melvin will stay with the Giants, as he isn’t expected to match Bochy’s 13-year tenure, it is clear that he has a deep connection to the Bay Area. Melvin, a Bay Area native, grew up on the peninsula, graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School, and played for Cañada College in Redwood City and Cal-Berkeley. In 1985, at the age of 24, he was traded to the Giants as part of a six-player deal and played under Roger Craig as the team’s part-time catcher.

“I think Roger Craig was the first guy I played for who really communicated,” Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea in 2019. “He would let you know when you were going to play. He would say, ‘Look, you’re going to play two days from now against this pitcher, and here’s why.’ That resonated with me, and I feel I do that with my players the best I can.”

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(Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)