Tag Archives: Bob Melvin

October 24, 2023

Melvin to the Giants

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ESPN reports the Giants hired Bob Melvin to manage the team:

Melvin managed the Padres for two seasons, reaching the 2022 NL Championship Series but then missing the playoffs this season with a $258 million payroll, the third highest in the majors. He will replace Gabe Kapler, who went 79-83 this season.

The Giants’ plan to hire Melvin was first reported Tuesday by The Athletic. He is expected to be introduced as Giants manager as early as Tuesday night, according to multiple reports.

ESPN.com

Melvin owns a .516 winning percentage for his career as a manager. That’s actually quite good. Most people who become managers tend to have short shelf lives, and they don’t get to stay around long enough if they lose big early. It’s a good move for Melvin as the Bay Area is his home.

I am a bit surprised that there is no compensation going the way of the Padres, but it may come out in the official announcement.

October 22, 2023

Trading a Manager

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The Padres gave the Giants permission to interview San Diego manager Bob Melvin.

While league sources believed the possibility of Melvin emerging as the top candidate in San Francisco were logical, the rarity of one manager jumping to a division rival while still under contract dampened the possibility. Granting permission makes Melvin the clear favorite for the San Francisco job, though because he’s still under contract with the Padres for one year at $4 million, the team could pursue compensation if he is the Giants’ choice to replace Gabe Kapler.

ESPN.com

Why would Melvin be the favorite? I suspect that he’s a better manager of good, young talent than a manager of superstar talent. Very simply, how can someone not win with the level of ability the Padres front office provided? He had three superstar hitters and a great pitching staff.

There are some managers good at development, and some that are good at winning , and they are not always the same. Maybe Melvin is right for a developing Giants team, but the Giants might want someone else when the development is over.

Also, some of that young talent might need to go to the Padres to land Melvin if San Francisco decides he is the right man for the job.

November 1, 2021

I Think It Was the Stadium

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The Padres introduced Bob Melvin as their new manager:

He said the big attractions are Petco Park, where the A’s played a two-game series in late July, and the Padres’ roster.

“We came here on a Tuesday night and there were 40,000 people here and it was electric,” Melvin said. “Your would have thought it was the playoffs and it resonated with everybody in our dugout. We’re all looking around at each other going, ‘Wow.’

“The ballpark is fantastic,” Melvin added. “It is a true destination. And now with the fan base and the enthusiasm here and the roster; the roster is the real hook.”

ESPN.com

PETCO Park should seem like a paradise after working in the plumbing challenged Oakland Coliseum for ten years.

Melvin is a great choice, but Preller appears to be really good at watching seemingly good choices go sour.

October 29, 2021

Melvin Moves

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The Padres hired a new manager, luring Bob Melvin away from the Athletics:

Melvin inherits a talented team led by star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and third baseman Manny Machado. The Padres return the majority of their core, which includes infielder Jake Cronenworth, center fielder Trent Grisham, second baseman Adam Frazier and a strong starting rotation of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove. Their deep bullpen is the sort of strength Melvin could exploit, having done so with a perpetually overachieving A’s team.

His tenure in Oakland was a wild success following tenures in Seattle and Arizona that ended with disappointment. With the A’s, Melvin developed a reputation as a players’ manager as well as a keen strategist, and in a division in which his team often carried the lowest payroll, he found consistent success.

ESPN.com

Wow. I wonder how much this has to do with a lifestyle change? I assume PETCO Park does not have plumbing problems. San Diego strikes me as a much nicer city than Oakland. The A’s can’t seem to get a new park, and it looks like they will go through a rebuild once again. This is a good job by San Diego of getting a quality field leader.

November 10, 2020

AL Manager of the Year

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The BBWAA presents the Manager of the Year award for the American League for 2020 to Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays. Cash garnered twenty two first place votes and 126 points. Rick Renteria, former manager of the White Sox finished second with five first place votes and 61 points. Charlie Montoyo of the Blue Jays finished third with 47 points. Bob Melvin also received a first place vote.

Cash owns a .522 winning percentage as a manager, finishing with at least 90 wins in his last three seasons, after finish below .500 his first three years with the Rays. The Rays finished with the best record in AL, and as we saw in the playoffs, the Cash and the Rays will buck tradition to try to create the best opportunities to win, even if it sometimes doesn’t work.

November 13, 2018

Writers Managers

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The Baseball Writers of American, BBWAA, named awarded their Manager of the Year to skippers in both leagues. Bob Melvin won easily in the AL, with Alex Cora second and Kevin Cash third. In the NL, Brian Snitker wins, with Craig Counsell finishing second and Bud Black third. This differed from the internet vote, where Cash finished ahead of Cora. Again, congratulations to both Melvin and Snitker on well deserved wins.

November 13, 2018

Internet Managers

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The IBWAA announced their choices for Manager of the Year in the AL and NL:

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its manager category Tuesday, with the Oakland Athletics’ Bob Melvin winning the 2018 IBWAA American League Manager of the Year award, and Brian Snitker, of the Atlanta Braves, being selected as the 2018 IBWAA National League Manager of the Year winner.

This is the tenth annual election for the IBWAA in the manager category.

Election results are as follows:

AL Manager:

1st Place: Bob Melvin, Oakland Athletics – 479 points
2nd Place: Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays – 297
3rd Place: Alex Cora, Boston Red Sox – 285

NL Manager:

1st Place: Brian Snitker Atlanta Braves – 502 points
2nd Place: Craig Counsell, Milwaukee Brewers – 311
3rd Place: Bud Black, Colorado Rockies – 153

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

So each award went to a manager whose team exceeded their pre-season expectations. Melvin held together a starting rotation wrecked by injuries. Snitker took a young team to the playoffs faster than most expected. Congratulations to both on their well deserved awards.

I’m surprised Cash did not do better, as he first implemented the innovative strategy of using an opener. Maybe it came from the front office, but Cash seemed perfectly fine to go with the cutting edge change. It looks like making the playoffs still counts for something.

September 9, 2015

More Melvin

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The Oakland Athletics extended the contract of Bob Melvin two years. I guess the Athletics like the way Melvin runs the team, since they didn’t do much this season. In fact, the Athletics are 10 games under their Pythagorean projection, 16-31 in one run games. Since, in my opinion, those close games test a manager the most, I’m somewhat surprised at the extension.

The Athletics are very concerned with good process. I suspect from their point of view Melvin made the right moves and ran into terrible luck. Since luck doesn’t tend to carry from season to season, Melvin should see the team bounce back next season.

January 14, 2013

Melvining the Manager

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The Athletics extended the contract of manager Bob Melvin:

Athletics manager Bob Melvin has received a two-year contract extension through the 2016 season after leading Oakland to a surprising AL West title last year.

Good for Bob and the A’s. For the most part, I’ve been disappointed in Billy Beane‘s skipper hires, but Bob seems to understand the system.

November 13, 2012 September 20, 2011

Three Years for Melvin

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The Oakland Athletics will reward Bob Melvin with a three-year contract:

The 49-year-old Melvin took over for the fired Bob Geren in June and had a 42-48 record heading into Tuesday night’s series opener with the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.

The team was 27-36 under Bob Geren, so I suppose this is an improvement. Of all the manager Billy Beane hired, Melvin seems to me the one most likely to be receptive to the advanced stats the front office uses. With luck, they can turn that into a winner.

June 9, 2011

Geren Fired

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Baseball Musings gets results. From Wednesday night:

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Athletics 3-2 Wednesday night, the ninth straight loss for Oakland. They’ve scored 26 runs and allowed 53, and the team was shutout twice. Something needs to be done. I almost think they should send down everyone they can send down and replace them with however is at AAA or AA. Maybe the manager needs to smash some items in a team meeting, or maybe they need a manager who wants to win at all costs.

Oakland fired Bob Geren this morning.

Geren’s four-plus season tenure at the helm in Oakland was marked by numerous injuries, a lack of offense and high-profile departures as he was unable to post a winning season after taking over an AL West championship team from Ken Macha. Geren posted a 334-376 record, including a 27-36 mark this season that has left Oakland eight games behind Texas in the AL West.

The A’s currently have four starting pitchers on the disabled list, including a season-ending shoulder injury for Dallas Braden. Oakland also was without injured All-Star closer Andrew Bailey for the first two months and is last in the American League with just 223 runs through the first 63 games.

The Oakland starters are 14-15 with a 3.06 ERA, so I don’t think the pitching is the main culprit here, even with the injuries. The offense just can’t score.

They replace Geren with Bob Melvin, who may be the most sabermetrically inclined manager they hired under Beane. It always disappointed me that they didn’t hire someone like Melvin sooner.