The San Diego Padres have their new manager, and in VERY STARK contrast to their last couple hires, they’re going with a seasoned MLB veteran manager. So seasoned, in fact, that nobody knew he was even on the market. Because he was expected to be the Oakland A’s manager next year, as he’s been for the last 11 years.
Yup, it’s Bob Melvin, out of nowhere:
So basically this is not a trade and thus no compensation is going to the A’s with Bob Melvin joining the Padres. Needless to say, this is a wonderful move for a Padres team in desperate need of the right voice.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 29, 2021
Read between the lines there, and it’s not hard to figure out what happened. The A’s were of course happy to bring Melvin back next year – he’s clearly great at what he does – but if they could suddenly save the $4 million he was going to make in 2022, they were happy with that, too.
Oof for the A’s, and a great move by the Padres. They are still in win-now mode, and bringing in one of the best, most experienced managers in the game is a great move. Seriously, I’m kinda awed that they pulled this off. Good on them.