The Giants reportedly have permission to interview Bob Melvin for their open managerial position.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A few days after the Giants fired manager Gabe Kapler, San Diego Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller held his end-of-season press conference and announced that Bob Melvin would be back as manager, despite persistent rumors that the two had irreconcilable differences.
"Bob is our manager, and he's going to be our manager going forward," Preller said at the start of the month. Sources have said for several weeks that Melvin is the front-runner in the Giants' search for Kapler's replacement, even though he wasn't technically available. That changed Sunday, whenthe Giants have requested and received permission to interview Melvin, who was the longtime A's manager before moving down the coast.
A three-time manager of the year, Melvin will just about complete a tour of the West Coast if takes the Giants job. He started his career with the Seattle Mariners and also has managed the Arizona Diamondbacks, A's and Padres. Melvin is a Bay Area native who went to Menlo-Atherton High School and Cal before a lengthy playing career that included three seasons as a catcher for the Giants in the 1980s. The 61-year-old has 1,517 wins as a manager, although he is still looking for his first World Series title. The Giants started their search with internal candidates, interviewing Kai Correa, Mark Hallberg and Alyssa Nakken.
The search will now focus on Melvin, who reportedly did not see eye-to-eye with Preller during a wildly disappointing season for the Padres. Sixteen years after the Giants brought Bruce Bochy up from San Diego, they look poised to repeat the process with another former big league catcher.