Bob Melvin Reportedly Leaving Oakland A’s To Manage San Diego Padres

OAKLAND (CBS SF/AP) — Bob Melvin has reportedly ended his tenure as manager of Oakland Athletics and is headed to Southern California to manage the San Diego Padres.

MLB.com and Padres beat reporter AJ Cassavell said the 60-year-old Melvin has signed a three-year deal to manage the Padres.

Sources: The Padres and Bob Melvin have agreed to a three-year deal to make Melvin the next manager in San Diego.

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) October 28, 2021

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Melvin replaces Jayce Tingler, who was fired Oct. 6 after a second-half collapse dropped the Padres from a solid grip on the NL’s second wild card spot to finishing with a losing record for the 10th time in 11 seasons.

The hiring of Melvin is a complete 180 for general manager A.J. Preller, whose previous two managerial hires had no experience as a big league skipper.

Melvin comes into the job with 18 seasons of big-league managerial experience and a 1,346-1,272 record with the A’s, Mariners and Diamondbacks. He has been named Manager of the Year three times, including in both leagues.

This year, Melvin became the winningest manager in Oakland team history, but the A’s missed the playoffs following three straight postseason berths. He was 853-764 with the Athletics.

Melvin managed the Mariners for two seasons and the Diamondbacks for five seasons.

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It’s unknown whether uncertainty over Oakland’s ballpark situation led Melvin to head to San Diego, but it might have, given the A’s let him interview with the Padres with a year left on his contract.

Preller hired Ruben Niebla from Cleveland as pitching coach on Wednesday.

The A’s turned to Melvin midway through the 2011 season to replace Bob Geren, whom they fired, and Melvin provided stability the club so desperately needed. He gained respect from his players for being fair, personable and unafraid to take chances on youth.

Oakland won the AL West during the pandemic-shortened, 60-game 2020 season following consecutive wild-card finishes. In the playoffs, the the A’s beat the White Sox in the wild-card round to stop a nine-game losing streak in winner-take-all postseason games — a major league record that dated to the 1973 World Series — before losing to the rival Houston Astros in a four-game AL division series.

In 2012, Oakland became the first team in major league history to win a division or pennant after trailing by five games with fewer than 10 to play, sweeping three games against Texas to win the division.

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