Morning everyone and happy Friday!
News broke yesterday that a familiar face will be rejoining the Athletics. It’s not anyone that’ll take the field but his presence is invaluable in a different way. We’re welcoming back of course former manager Bob Melvin, who will be taking on a Special Advisory role with the team he managed for 10+ seasons:
Welcome back Bob! The return of BoMel is much welcomed for a young A’s squad that is looking to take that next step forward. While none of the players that he managed with the Athletics are around anymore, the young crop that the A’s have currently surely know the history of Melvin with the franchise. When Melvin speaks, players shut up and listen because he’s been around this game longer than most of them have been alive. BoMel, as he’s affectionally known, was a players’ coach during his time donning the Green & Gold and he won Manager of the Year in both 2012 and 2018, two of the most memorable seasons in recent A’s history. Overall he went 853-764 while managing our A’s and every player he coached had nothing but roses for him.
The Palo Alto native is the second-winningest manager in franchise history (behind of course Connie Mack), but Melvin exited unceremoniously from the team after the 2021 season. That was the offseason the A’s began their tear down of the roster and, while he was still technically under contract, both team and Melvin decided that a fresh start for both sides was in the best interest of everyone involved. He had no desire to oversee another years-long rebuild and he ended up going down south to manage the win-now San Diego Padres for a couple seasons before returning to the Bay Area as the manager of the rival Giants, which was a bit of a gut punch to us A’s fans. He lasted just two seasons there though and was surprisingly canned this offseason by Giants president Buster Posey after posting a 161-163 record.
While Melvin oversaw six playoff squads, advancing deep into the postseason always proved to be a challenge for him. The A’s lost five of six of those series in the first round, only winning the 2020 Wild Card series over the Chicago White Sox but then immediately losing to the Houston Astros in the next round. His squads did put up some tough battles against the Detroit Tigers early on in his time as manager but his postseason record of 7-13 isn’t great and he was 0-3 in Wild Card games as manager of the A’s.
That’s not all of the context though. Melvin repeatedly worked within the restraints of having one of the lowest payrolls in the league and still managed to coax plenty of production out of random names and other nobodies that had been forgotten by the league. The fact that Melvin was able to put together multiple playoff rosters while dealing with an absent front office and a lack of funds from the owner for upgrades is a testament to the kind of baseball mind he has on his head. This is a huge get for the A’s organization as a whole, though fans may not exactly see the impact he’ll have.
Reportedly Melvin is preparing to take on a role that allows him to help both the front office and players. During Spring Training Melvin is going to be around so keep an eye out and you might spot him! He’ll be watching the games, giving pointers to the players, and assessing the current crop along with the front office and scouts. He won’t be among an unfamiliar group of coaches either as many know him or even worked with him in the past. That includes current manager Mark Kotsay, who was on Melvin’s staff for years before taking over for him in 2022.
Once the regular season gets underway though BoMel will be hanging out down in the minor leagues with the top prospects coming up through the system. That’ll be a new experience for him as he’s been a major league coach for the past 27 years and hasn’t been able to see minor leaguers much up close before they arrive. Melvin will be a key voice for General Manager David Forst when it comes to promotions for those players. If they get his voice of approval, it’ll be hard to keep them down long.
“It means a lot,” Melvin said, of returning to the A’s. “I’m just going to try to help out however I can. The easy part for me is the familiarity with the people in the organization.”
Melvin is going to slide right back in almost like he never left. After a few years of bouncing around, returning to a familiar team in the A’s will be a breath of familiar air for him. And the A’s are all the luckier to have such an important baseball mind around.
Have a great weekend everyone! Baseball is back!
A’s Coverage
- Bob Melvin returning to Athletics as special advisor
- Can The A’s Young Core Turn Defense Into a Strength?
- Pesky Drawback Of “Closer By Committee” (It Never Really Works)
- Athletics Community Prospect List: Cole Miller Lays Claim To #15
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- Zack Gelof: Outfielder?
- Athletics 2026 Top MLB Prospects Deep Dive
- Waiting For Gelof: What Do We Do?
- “Relievers Are Volatile”… But Why?
- Are The Final Two Rotation Spots Really Up For Grabs?
- Story Lines To Watch As Spring Training Unfolds
MLB News and Interest:
- Orioles’ Jordan Westburg ‘physically unable to participate’ at camp
- Brewers sign manager Pat Murphy to contract extension
- Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan to get center field reps during spring
- MLBPA elects Bruce Meyer as interim executive director
- Is this the most stacked, competitive division in baseball?
- Buster Olney ranks top-10 first basemen for 2026
- Former A’s starter Chris Bassitt calls out MLB in blunt comments
- Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz plead not guilty in pitch rigging case
- Each team’s top projected player for 2026
- Dodgers righty Brusdar Graterol to miss beginning of season
- Rays right-hander Edwin Uceta undergoing tests on shoulder
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
It’s not too late for Kotsay to join in on the WBC fun:
Possible closer versus starting first baseman:
We would all more than welcome that. Needs to figure out lefties first:
Higher hopes for the left-handers coming up: