Bob Melvin Is Out As The Padres Manager

By: Steve Atkinson

The Padres won today now that boring Bob Melvin is now the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Melvin and A.J. Preller were at odds throughout the season in 2023. They had different visions of the team going forward and the players were tuning him out. Melvin is old school type manager that the players couldn’t relate to. The Padres need a young manager that brings a vibe to the clubhouse.

The Padres Will Hopefully Get A Younger Manager

There are rumors that the Padres will hire either Ryan Flaherty or Mike Shildt. Shildt is 55 and a senior advisor on the Padres while Flaherty is the current bench coach and offensive coordinator. I don’t know anything about these two and I won’t pretend to but I’d go with the younger manager over Shildt. They’ve already had a boring manager who was old school with Melvin they need to change it up.

Baseball is changing and these guys will gravitate more to someone closer to their age. Look at Alex Cora for example he is the reason why the Red Sox won the World Series in 2018. The team was loaded but they needed a younger manager to provide the spark. Same for the Padres they need a younger manager to provide that spark. Flaherty could be the answer.

From spring training Bob Melvin really didn’t have the clubhouse. I don’t think he could relate to the talent and it was too much for him. I don’t think A.J. wanted Melvin to manage the team and if another team was interested in him A.J. would let them have Melvin. It is what’s best for everyone. If Alex Cora wasn’t managing the Red Sox in 2024 I would say go get him.

A.J. wants more out of the top talent in 2024 Melvin couldn’t get the best out of his top players

You look at the playoff teams, you’ve gotta have your players that you’re relying on and counting on to have seasons that are consistent with what they’ve done in the past, what you think they’re capable of doing going forward,” Preller said. “And I think one of the things this year, we just didn’t quite have that from our top guys. I think that’s something that we’ll talk about, how do we make sure we’re very prepared for the season? How do we make sure we put them in environments where they’re going to perform and succeed?”

The answer to that question is simple. By getting a manager that will get the attention of its players. It certainly wasn’t boring Melvin. Here was A.J,’s quote a couple of weeks ago that sounded like it came from ownership about Melvin being the manager in 2024.

“Bob is our manager and is going to be our manager going forward,” Preller said during a video news conference. “A lot’s been said in the last few weeks, obviously, but both he and I are very excited about the challenge of getting this group back to the postseason next year.”

Now that Melvin got for the Giants job it’s clear that Preller wanted him gone to get a different voice in the Padres clubhouse.