“Will he or won’t he” had been the question regarding Bob Melvin’s future with the San Diego Padres.
With the team officially eliminated from playoff contention on Friday, the media asked Melvin if he would return in 2024.
“I’m under contract here next year and that’s the only thing I’m thinking about right now,” Melvin told reporters Sunday.
The Padres had gone 19-7 in the month of September, but that wouldn’t make a difference. It wasn’t the record that caused the lack of October baseball.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin reported last month that the team atmosphere has been toxic, an “institutional failure,” and had difficulty handling people despite having a strong talent evaluator (president of baseball operations A. J. Preller).
Preller’s decision during the offseason to dump money and top names into the team didn’t work in his favor. The Padres weren’t alone in this, either.
According to ESPN, this is the second time in the Wild-Card era (since 1995) that the teams with the top three payrolls (New York Mets, New York Yankees and the Padres) all missed the playoffs.
San Diego spent a lot of money ($258 million, third highest payroll in MLB) and ended up finishing third in the NL West.
About Jessica Kleinschmidt
Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.