The San Francisco Giants picked up their club option for the 2026 MLB season on manager Bob Melvin in July. That can come across as a reassuring sign that Melvin will be back in the team's dugout for a third season, but after San Francisco missed the boat to the 2025 postseason and won just one more game than what the team had under him in 2024, the door seems, at the very least, slightly ajar for his exit.
The Giants won their final game of the 2025 campaign on Sunday, 4-0, to complete a sweep of the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Whether that's the last time that Melvin had managed a game for the Giants or not is something that remains to be seen. However, even Melvin didn't sound too confident about his chances.
“It is what it is, “Melvin said, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. “We’ll see what the next day brings.”
Melvin's fate with the Giants could very well be in the hands of president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
“I think I’m going to talk to somebody tomorrow,” Melvin said when asked if he's up for a meeting with any of the team's higher-ups.
Melvin was hired by the Giants to be their manager following the 2023 MLB season. In 2024, he guided San Francisco to an 80-82 record, as the Giants failed to make the postseason. It was practically the same story for Melvin and the Giants in 2025. Despite a late surge in the second half, San Francisco ultimately did not win enough to make its first playoff appearance since 2021, when Gabe Kapler was still managing the team.
Before coming over to the Giants, the 63-year-old Melvin managed the San Diego Padres for two seasons. He also had managing stints with the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics. Melvin won a Manager of the Year award with the Diamondbacks in 2007 and two with the Athletics in 2012 and 2018.
Those accolades have not translated into the kind of success the Giants hoped to have when they hired Melvin. While it can't be all on Melvin why San Francisco has struggled to be more than just an average baseball club, the Giants might be forced to search for answers without him going forward.
