Why is Melvin leaving San Diego
San Diego Padres Kim Ha-sung (28) will end his fourth year of contract with the 2024 season. If the club does not renew the contract, it will become a free agent after the season.
In four years of San Diego, Kim Ha-sung will be the third coach. Bob Melvin was interviewed by the SF Giants and the club decided to be the new head coach. MLB Network announced Melvin as SF Giants manager on the 25th .
After a disappointing 2023 season, the Padres were in a position to find a new coach less than a month after AJ Preller announced, "Our team's coach in 2024 is Bob Belvin."
Kim Ha-sung will be the third coach after Jace Tingler and Bob Melvin in the 2022-2023 season after joining in 2021. Mike Shildt, who was suddenly fired from the former St. Louis Cardinals manager and served as a senior advisor under Melvin, is the next coach.
When Melvin received permission to interview with the SF Giants, it should be said that the relationship with the Padres had already been liquidated. The Giants fired manager Gabe Kapler three days before the end of the regular season, holding him responsible for poor performance. A few days later, the Internet media "The Athletic" broke out a scoop report that Padres Melvin asked the club for permission to interview the Giants.
Melvin, 62, is from the Bay Area, which connects San Francisco and Oakland. Born in Palo Alto, near Stanford University, he attended Berkeley. He was a catcher and advanced to the College World Series at Berkeley. He played in MLB for 10 years.
Melvin, who built a minor league coaching class, first took the helm of the major league with the Seattle Mariners in 2003. He then served as a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks for five years. In 2011, he coached the Oakland Aces, his hometown, and took the team to the playoffs six times in 11 years.
Coach Melvin changed his nest with the club's permission to interview both when he left Oakland for San Diego and this SF Giants transfer with the remaining contract period. This year, he invested $285 million in the club's highest annual salary, but failed to advance to the PO and ended with 82 wins and 80 losses.
General manager AJ Preller recruited Melvin, but it is said that he was in conflict with each other this year. At that time, when the interview request came from his hometown team, he accepted it without hesitation.
The change of coach is not expected to affect Kim Ha-sung much. He has now established a firm position in offense and defense, and his share in the team is different from before. In his first year as a manager of Tingler, he had a lot of hard times.
The Padres will soon find a new coach to prepare for the 2024 season. The reality is that the probability of advancing to the postseason in the 2024 season is lower than in 2023.