Bob Melvin uncertain about future as Giants manager

After the San Francisco Giants posted an 80-82 record in Bob Melvin’s first season as manager, the club improved by just a single game in 2025.  The 81-win campaign means that the Giants have still had just one winning season in the last nine years, and since their 107-win outburst in 2021, San Francisco has an almost exactly middling 321-327 record.

More was expected heading into 2025 and even during the season, especially after the club was firmly in NL West contention by mid-June.  With just a .500 record as the final result, however, Melvin admitted to reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Shayna Rubin) that he hadn’t been told that he would be returning as manager in 2026.

“It is what it is.  We’ll see what the next day brings,” Melvin said, noting that he believes he’ll be meeting with “somebody” in the front office on Monday.

The problem with Bob Melvin being unsure of future

The lack of clarity about Melvin’s status is perhaps a red flag, and as Rubin writes, “the shift in Melvin’s tone is stark compared to earlier this year.”  Back on July 1, in fact, the Giants seemed to be getting an early jump on any lame-duck speculation by exercising their 2026 club option on Melvin’s contract.  The team was actually in a bit of a slump on July 1, but rebounded to take a 51-42 record into action on July 9.  An ugly 13-0 loss to the Phillies that day was a bad omen, as it started a 3-13 stretch for the Giants through the end of July.

More streaky play followed, as the Giants followed up a 2-11 stretch in August by suddenly going 13-3 in their following 16 games.  This briefly brought San Francisco back into the wild card hunt before another 2-9 stretch sunk the team in September.  Both the lineup and the pitching staff seemed to take turns being inconsistent, though the offense in particular was a letdown given the premium talent (i.e. Rafael Devers, Willy Adames) acquired within the last year.

How much of this is Melvin’s fault, naturally, is a matter of debate.  Questions can certainly be asked about the roster Melvin was given by president of baseball operations, Buster Posey, who has now completed his first year in charge of the Giants front office.  But Posey obviously isn’t doing anywhere so early in his tenure, and despite his commitment to Melvin in July, the PBO could be looking to make his own hire in the dugout.  Melvin was hired by former baseball ops head Farhan Zaidi, who had a longstanding past history dating back to their days with the Athletics when Melvin was the manager and Zaidi was an assistant GM.

Melvin turns 64 at the end of October, and he has now managed for parts of 22 Major League seasons over tenures with the Mariners, Diamondbacks, A’s, Padres, and Giants.  Melvin has a 1678-1588 record and three Manager of the Year awards over his outstanding career as a skipper, and chances are he would draw immediate attention on the job market if the Giants did choose to fire him in the coming days.