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 [October 26, 2023]
The San Francisco Giants named Bob Melvin as their new
manager on Wednesday morning.
Melvin, who turns 62 on Saturday, left the San Diego Padres to
accept the position with their National League West rivals, and the
veteran manager could not be happier to return to San Francisco.
"It's kind of a surreal moment for me," Melvin said during
Wednesday's introductory press conference at Oracle Park. "I grew up
around here, as everybody knows, an absolute crazy Bay Area sports
fan. Whether it was Cal and Stanford, whether it was the 49ers and
the Raiders, whether it was the Giants and the A's, the Warriors, I
was into it all.
"I was walking over here today thinking, ‘Talk about full circle.'
For me, this isn't even something as a kid you can even dream of."
Melvin had one season and $4 million remaining on his contract in
San Diego. The three-time Manager of the Year and Bay Area native
received permission from the Padres to interview with the Giants,
who fired Gabe Kapler with three games remaining this season.
The Padres have two internal candidates to potentially replace
Melvin: bench coach Ryan Flaherty and senior advisor Mike Shildt.
The Athletic reported that Flaherty, 37, has a strong relationship
with general manager A.J. Preller, although the 55-year-old Shildt
has major league managerial experience due to his time with the St.
Louis Cardinals (2018-21).
Melvin, a former Giants catcher, and Giants president of baseball
operations Farhan Zaidi, worked together in Oakland. Melvin was the
Athletics' manager and Zaidi served as their assistant general
manager.
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"We just view Bob as the perfect manager and
perfect leader for this team and this organization right now," Zaidi
said. "There are so many players out there who played for Bob who to
this day will say he's the best manager they've ever played for, and
that carried so much weight for us in this process."
Melvin initially was slated to return as skipper of the Padres in
2024 despite the team failing to meet high expectations this season.
There were reports of friction between Melvin and Preller late in
the season.
"I think there was a narrative at the end that probably wasn't going
to go away, me being on the last year of my contract," Melvin said.
"I think as far as that organization goes, it's probably not fair if
that narrative continued through next year."
Melvin posted a 171-153 record in two seasons with San Diego. The
Padres went 89-73 in his first season and reached the NL
Championship Series before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies.
In 20 seasons as a big-league manager, Melvin has a 1,517-1,425
record with the Seattle Mariners (2003-04), Arizona Diamondbacks
(2005-09), Athletics (2011-21) and Padres. He has guided eight teams
to the postseason.
--Field Level Media
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