Melvin, who turns 62 this week, is the fifth-oldest active manager under contract in the majors, and it’s not known how much longer he intends to continue. The Giants will be the fifth team he has led and, even including 11 years in Oakland, will be the c
ballpark. Melvin himself may not be a box office draw, but regularly announcing his probable starting pitchers well in advance and maintaining a steadier starting lineup might be.
Moreover, the Giants are expected to be active this offseason to that end, and having a reputable manager such as Melvin at the helm could help alleviate concerns about stepping into a situation where the president of baseball operations is in a lame-duck year.
Zaidi confirmed he is entering the last year of his contract, and Giants ownership will likely be seeking results in 2024 to determine whether to extend him beyond next season.
Some of the top free agents — Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jung-hoo Lee — hail from Japan or Korea, and Melvin has a long track record of managing players to who made the move overseas, from Ichiro Suzuki in Seattle to Yu Darvish and Haseong Kim in San Diego.
It remains to be seen what the managerial shakeup means for the Giants’ 13-person coaching staff, the largest in the league. Some of them — bench coach
Kai Correa, third base coach Mark Hallberg and assistant Alyssa Nakken — remained well-regarded enough within the organization to interview for the managerial job, while others have been linked to jobs elsewhere. Catching coordinator Craig Albernaz was reportedly a candidate to succeed Terry Francona in Cleveland, while pitching coach Andrew Bailey has been mentioned as a candidate to join Boston’s coaching staff, closer to his
Connecticut home.
Melvin could bring some of his coaches from San Diego with him, such as bench coach
Ryan Christenson and third base coach Matt Williams, who starred for the Giants. Before landing Melvin, the Giants also interviewed former catchers-turnedcoaches Stephen Vogt and Jason Varitek, who could conceivably still join Melvin’s staff, though Vogt is reportedly a “serious candidate” for the Guardians’ job.
Melvin, who turns 62 this week, is the fiftholdest active manager under contract in the majors, and it’s not known how much longer he intends to continue.
The Giants will be the fifth team he has led and, even including 11 years in Oakland, will be the closest to home.
Born in Palo Alto and raised in Menlo
Park, Melvin was a two-sport athlete at Menlo-atherton High School and went on to play baseball at Calberkeley and Cañada College in Redwood
City before turning pro and beginning a 10-year playing majorleague playing career. Drafted by the Tigers in 1981, Melvin went on to play for seven teams, including three seasons in San Francisco, where he crossed paths with manager Roger Craig.
Craig, Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2019, “was the first guy I played for who really communicated. He would let you know when you were going to play. He would say, ‘Look, you’re going to play two days from now against this pitcher, and here’s why.’ That resonated with me, and I feel I do that with my players the best I can.”