In the National, the California clubs had to be powers. San Diego was expected to dominate. San Francisco must have been good. Los Angeles had to be in the race.
But ultimately, LA dominated, San Francisco disappointed and San Diego collapsed as we have rarely seen a club do.
After all, on paper, the Padres had everything they needed to win more games. They have excellent players… but the sauce has not risen.
For what? That’s the $253 million question.
We know that the Padres do not have a manager/GM duo that gets along well. And even if the Padres owner wants to keep his two men, I don’t expect Bob Melvin to stay on.
He’s excellent, but he hasn’t had a great year. He must pay.
That said, in a new environment he could be very good. Could a club in the West (he wants to stay in the West) give him an eye?
According to Buster Olney, the Giants could indeed go for him. This is the noise going around the MLB at the moment.
San Francisco is more like Oakland (where it has been for a long time) than San Diego. After all, the Giants have to give more with little, which is what he did with the A’s.
In San Diego, he had quality guys, but no chemistry. It’s the opposite of Oakland, clearly.
Because San Francisco could hardly be closer to Oakland than any other market, this could be attractive to the skipper.
The Giants want a manager soon. If the Padres say goodbye to Melvin, he could really end up on the San Francisco side. It makes sense, anyway.
