PHOENIX — Major-league managers get hired to get fired, and sometimes scapegoated. The heated seat in the dugout is not an amenity but a necessity. One day you’re leaning on the rail, the next day you’re run out of town on one.
So what is Bob Melvin’s secret to managing 22 major-league seasons? To have such staying power in the stormiest of professions? To create such confidence within the San Francisco Giants front office that president of baseball operations Buster Posey saw fit to pick up Melvin’s option for 2026 on Tuesday, even though the team is in the midst of its worst stretch this season?
There’s the obvious stuff. You have to be a good communicator. You have to be a good tactician. You have to be organized and prepared. You have to connect with players. You have to delegate with trust. You have to diagnose, read and react. You have to be unflappable. You have to be positive without coming off like a Pollyanna. You have to keep a steady hand on the wheel.
Here’s the part that gets overlooked, though: If you want to survive as a major-league manager, you have to understand what your bosses want.
“I’ve tried to understand each organization and what they’re all about and acquiesce,” Melvin said before Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Melvin managed a penny-pinching Moneyball operation in Oakland. He managed a big-payroll behemoth under the frenetic wheeling and dealing of general manager A.J. Preller in San Diego. He managed teams in Seattle and Arizona that sometimes failed to meet expectations and sometimes wildly exceeded them. He’s managed megastars like Ichiro Suzuki and Juan Soto, and he’s managed anonymous rosters that were light on experience.
In some of those places, and for some of those bosses, creating alignment with the front office required a bit more spinal manipulation. Just nine months into his working relationship with Posey, however, it had become clear that Melvin only had to bend so much. When it comes to broad philosophies and outlooks, the Giants’ top baseball official and field general appear very much on the same page.
Posey demonstrated as much Tuesday. He said he started thinking about exercising Melvin’s option several weeks ago, so he didn’t contrive the timing of the announcement as a reaffirming message to the clubhouse and coaching staff. Posey acknowledged that some people would interpret it that way, which was fine by him. He wanted Melvin and his coaches to know they were supported. He wanted everyone else to know it, too.
“In our personal relationship, I feel really comfortable,” Posey said of Melvin. “He’s as prepared as anybody each and every day. I think his coaches are the same way. Sometimes when you’re going through a rough patch, there’s a tendency to want to point the finger at the coaches. … I still believe in (our) group of players, but it boils down to them needing to play better baseball. If anybody deserves any blame from the top, it should be on me. It shouldn’t be on our manager or our coaching staff. I’m the one who sets the roster.
“So with all those things considered, this was a good time to show my belief in Bob and his coaching staff.”
Melvin wasn’t Posey’s hire, of course. Former president Farhan Zaidi was in charge when the Giants received permission from the San Diego Padres to interview Melvin following the 2023 season. Still, Posey held a prominent place in the Giants’ ownership group, which encouraged Zaidi to pursue Melvin, so it’s not like he was inheriting someone else’s baggage.
The only reason the Giants didn’t pick up Melvin’s option when announcing Posey’s hiring last October was to give the two men a chance to develop a working relationship before making an evaluation. From free-agent pursuits, to spring training, to the ups and downs of the season, Posey had seen enough to be convinced it was a relationship that worked.
Melvin, 63, received a vote of confidence while the Giants are in the throes of their most disappointing stretch of the season. Entering Tuesday, they had lost 12 of their last 17 games, including series losses to losing teams like the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox. In barely two weeks, they’ve fallen from a tie atop the National League West on June 13 to an eight-game deficit behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It kind of speaks to who Buster is,” Melvin said. “He knows what a grind this is and he knows how hard we wear it, myself and the coaching staff. So it doesn’t surprise me. It’s probably unique as far as the timing goes, but it doesn’t surprise you with him. He’s been very supportive of us as a staff. Our dialogue has been very good. From spring training until now, we’ve aligned on how we see things and where this team and organization are going. So it’s very much appreciated by me and the staff.”
Roughly halfway through the season, the Giants are in a slump that has left them lagging behind the first-place Dodgers. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
Posey said he does not view the team’s recent subpar performance as a reflection on its manager.
“The guys trust (Melvin). I think they play hard for him,” Posey said. “Our rough stretch is most certainly not from a lack of effort. I see the way that these guys work day in and day out. We just haven’t gotten the performance.
“I want it to be really known: There’s a lot of belief from all of us.”
Posey’s confidence in Melvin trickles down to his coaching staff, including hitting coach Pat Burrell and third-base coach Matt Williams, who received scrutiny for a series of decisions to send or hold runners on the last homestand. Posey said Melvin has full authority over his coaching staff, and Melvin said he has not considered making in-season changes to his group.
Regarding Burrell, Melvin said the hitters are getting the support and information they need to be successful.
“If anybody sees the work that this guy puts in and how our guys respond to him …” Melvin said. “He’s been through it before. He understands these difficult times and they never feel anything but support from him. All three of our guys work very well together.”
Posey said it as diplomatically as he could. In his mind, the improvement needs to come from the clubhouse, not the coaches’ room.
“You want the coach to be prepared, but at the same time, you want there to be accountability for the player, to understand that ultimately their career and their success or failure comes down to one person and that’s themselves,” Posey said. “We want our coaches there to support our players, but to understand they’re not a crutch as well.”
Burrell demurred on whether exercising Melvin’s option offered any personal assurance.
“What that means at the end of the year, who knows,” Burrell said. He, like nearly the entire coaching staff, is on expiring contracts. “I’m so committed to the task, I’ll worry about the rest later. But I’m super happy for Bob. He deserves it. Bob’s our leader. We love Bob.”
Burrell has sought to provide guidance during a stretch when the Giants have scored just 19 runs in their last 64 innings and have a .168 average with runners in scoring position over their last 16 games.
“(I do it) with empathy first and foremost,” Burrell said. “I know how hard the guys are working. I know the messaging is good. I feel for them because I know what they’re going through. You’ll have the lows, and they can be a little contagious. We’re in one of those periods. It’s our job to just be a positive face for them. I don’t see (discouragement) in their eyes. They prepare every day.”
The clubhouse welcomed news of Melvin’s status. Third baseman Matt Chapman, whose relationship with Melvin goes back to Oakland, flashed a smile and said he was “super pumped for him.” Right-hander Logan Webb lauded the decision and said he hopes next year won’t be the last one for Melvin in San Francisco.
“Hopefully he’s here for as long as I’m here,” said Webb, who is signed through 2028. “Everyone in this clubhouse has his back all the time.”
Last September, when the Giants were winding down a disappointing season, Melvin sat in the visiting manager’s office in San Diego and reflected on what went wrong.
“This is everything I’ve dreamed of coming in here,” said Melvin, who grew up a Giants fan in Menlo Park and held onto quiet hopes that some day he’d manage in San Francisco. “So for it not to go well — and my expectation was that it would go well — makes it probably the hardest year I’ve had.”
However this second season ends, Melvin knows he’ll have a shot at a third. His expectation continues to be that it will go well.
“We feel we’ve got a good thing going here,” Melvin said Tuesday. “We’ve signed some impactful guys that are going to be here. We’ve traded for guys. We have a nucleus going forward, and to be able to be part of that is a big deal for me, especially in the Bay Area and San Francisco.”
(Top photo of Bob Melvin: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
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