The Athletics made sure to show their respect and admiration for Bob Melvin when he decided to leave Oakland to be the San Diego Padres' new manager. In the end, that was the same reason they let Melvin take another job without receiving any kind of compensation in return.
“In fairness to Bob, there was going to be an opportunity for a multi-year deal that he did not have at Oakland,” general manager David Forst said to the San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea. “We thought it was only right to let him to pursue that.
“It ended up being a good fit. He had great years in Oakland. I don’t think there’s any doubt we loved working with him.”
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Melvin's 2022 contract option was exercised in June, meaning he already was under contract to manage the A's next season. But there weren't any guarantees after that.
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Forst told Shea the reason the A's didn't ask the Padres for anything in return really comes down to one word: Respect.
“You don’t want to complicate that process for Bob," Forst said.
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Melvin told NBC Sports California's Brodie Brazil that he hopes the next A's manager comes from his previous staff. Forst wouldn't give Shea a timeline on when the team will have a new manager, but did confirm that current A's coaches Mark Kotsay, Ryan Christenson, Darren Bush and Triple-A manager Fran Riordan are in-house candidates.