Melvin leaving Padres for the Giants
The San Francisco Giants have hired manager Bob Melvin away from the division rival San Diego Padres, three people with direct knowledge of the agreement said Tuesday.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had made a formal announcement of Melvin's hiring — which was likely to be official by late Tuesday night. The Athletic first reported Melvin was the Giants' choice.
The 61-year-old Melvin will be returning to the Bay Area where he grew up, cheered for and later played on the Giants and then managed the Oakland Athletics from 2011-21. An introductory news conference is planned for Wednesday.
Melvin had one year left on his contract with San Diego but leaves amid reports of friction with general manager A.J. Preller. 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. It's unclear if the Padres will receive compensation.
Melvin, a three-time Manager of the Year who won in both leagues, went 171-153 with the big-spending Padres and will enter his 21st season as a manager next year. He has a career record of 1,5171,425 with eight postseason appearances while guiding Arizona, Seattle, Oakland and San Diego.
A native of nearby Palo Alto, Melvin loves the Bay Area. He attended the University of California-Berkeley and played for his hometown club from 1986-88.
Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi had hoped to find a new manager by the start of free agency to replace Gabe Kapler, fired with three days remaining in the season. Kapler was 295248 over three-plus seasons, leading the team to a franchise-record 107 wins to edge the 106-win Dodgers for the NL West title in 2021 before missing the playoffs the last two seasons.
With Melvin gone, Preller will be hiring his fifth manager since midway through the 2015 season. Perhaps the strongest in-house candidate is Mike Shildt, who was abruptly fired as manager in St. Louis after the 2021 season despite leading the Cardinals to a third straight playoff appearance. He was voted NL Manager of the Year in 2019.
Shildt was hired by the Padres before the 2022 season as a senior advisor to the major league staff and player development department. He filled in as third base coach early in the 2023 season after Matt Williams had colon cancer surgery. The previous year, Shildt also stepped in as third base coach, first base coach and bench coach due to various medical situations. His work in player development could be an added bonus if he takes over a big league roster led by stars Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts.
Another in-house candidate is Ryan Flaherty, the bench coach/offensive coordinator who was a teammate of Machado with the
Baltimore Orioles.
Melvin was the only manager to lead the Padres to a winning record in a full season during Preller's tenure, doing so twice. Preller's three previous hires had no previous big league managerial experience.
ASTROS FALL SHORT » Coming a win shy of reaching the World Series would be considered a successful season for most teams.
Not for the defending champion Houston Astros, who lost all four home games of the AL Championship Series to the Texas Rangers and came up short in their quest for a third straight trip to the Fall Classic.
Dusty Baker, the Astros' 74-year-old Baker manager, said he hasn't decided if he wants to return next year after wrapping up his fourth season with the Astros. He was hired after manager A.J. Hinch was fired in the wake of the team's sign-stealing scandal.
“I haven't had time to evaluate or think about my future because I'm down the list,” he said. “I don't want to steal the spotlight or anything from these guys. You've got to savor what we did. You've got to think about how we can get better. And then I'll evaluate my situation and my life.”
PGA Tour players who finished out of the top 125 on the FedEx Cup now have another option where to play: the European tour.
The DP World Tour is offering full membership to PGA Tour players who finish between Nos. 126 and 200 this year, although there is a caveat. Only five players who accept European tour membership can play a tournament in any given week.
That would keep as many as 75 PGA Tour players from filling out European tour fields.
The European tour is creating a new category for anyone on the PGA Tour taking it up on the offer. Category 12 follows a career money exemption, but it is positioned ahead of the top 20 players who advance out of the Challenge Tour.
The PGA Tour has three tournaments left in its FedEx Cup Fall portion of the schedule. Among those currently outside the top 125 are Jimmy Walker, Patton Kizzire, Russell Knox of Scotland and Jason Dufner.
Without this option, players outside the top 125 would try to get into PGA Tour events with weak fields or go to the Korn Ferry Tour, where the top 30 players on the points list earn their way to the PGA Tour.
The announcement is part of the strategic alliance announced last year. The top 10 players from the European tour not already exempt earn PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season. Their priority comes right after the players who finish in the top 125.
Muchova withdraws from WTA Finals
French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova pulled out of the WTA Finals because of an injured right wrist and was replaced in the field for the season-ending tournament in Cancún, Mexico by Maria Sakkari.
“Together with the team and doctors, we tried everything till the last moment to resolve my wrist
Rahal Letterman Lanigan hired Pietro Fittipaldi, the current reserve driver for the Haas Formula One team, to race its third car in the IndyCar Series next season.
Fittipaldi, the Brazilian-American grandson of 1989 IndyCar champion and two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, has nine career starts in IndyCar but none since the 2021 season. He was in Austin, Texas, all weekend as Haas' reserve driver.
Fittipaldi will drive the No. 30 that had been piloted by Jack Harvey until his late-season release. RLL then used several different drivers in the car as it researched its options.
Fittipaldi was not one of the drivers used by RLL in the No. 30.
Bobby Rahal said he was impressed with Fittipaldi's work in IndyCar while driving three races for Dale Coyne Racing in 2021. Fittipaldi qualified 13th for the Indianapolis 500 that year.
Fittipaldi ran six races in 2018 that included a career-best finish of ninth at Portland. He was supposed to run more races that season but broke both legs in a crash at the Six Hours of Circuit de SpaFrancorchamps in May of that year.
Fittipaldi has spent the last several years as Haas' reserve driver and made two race starts in 2020, with a best finish of 17th in Bahrain.