SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres will be looking for a new manager to lead the team in 2024. Their manager of the past 2 years, Bob Melvin, has agreed to terms to take over managing the San Francisco Giants, the Padres division rival from northern California.
“I could not be more excited to come back to the Bay Area and manage this great organization,” Melvin said in a statement. “I’d like to thank Greg Johnson, Farhan Zaidi and Larry Baer for giving me the opportunity to add another chapter to my Giants career. This is a tremendous opportunity and a great responsibility to lead this organization and I’m eager to get started.”
Less than 3 weeks ago, Melvin confirmed that he would be returning to the Padres for the final season of his contract, saying that he was "looking forward to having a much better year than we had this year.”
Padres General Manager A.J. Preller seemed to confirm the commitment as well at a news conference, “Bob is our manager and is going to be our manager going forward."
On Sunday, there were reports that the Giants received permission from the Padres to interview Melvin for their open managerial position. The Giants fired their manager, Gabe Kapler, just before the end of the season. The team failed to make the playoffs for the past 2 years.
The 61-year-old manager had been the manager of the San Diego Padres for the past two seasons of his 20-year MLB managing career, covering nearly 3,000 games.
According to the Associated Press, Melvin managed the Oakland Athletics from 2011-21 before leaving for the Padres position. He has gone 171-153 with big-spending San Diego the past two seasons — but the Padres' downfall in 2023 left some uncertainty about whether Melvin would return.
Then, both Melvin and general manager A.J. Preller said earlier this month Melvin would be back for 2024 to fulfill the final year on his contract after the Padres finished 82-80 and missed the playoffs following a run to the NL Championship Series in 2022.
Melvin is a three-time Manager of the Year winner — honored in both leagues — who just completed his 20th overall season as a major league skipper. He owns a 1,517-1,425 career record with eight postseason appearances while guiding Arizona, Seattle, Oakland and San Diego.
“Bob Melvin is one of the most well-respected managers and people in baseball today,” said Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi. “He brings a wealth of baseball acumen from all of his experience in the game, first as player and then over the last 20-plus years as a manager or coach. Having worked with Bob in the past I have seen firsthand the positive impacts that he has on a team and an organization. I’m thrilled to be working with him once again and can’t wait to get started.”
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