Bob Melvin could voluntarily leave the Padres after the season?

‘Bob Melvin chooses to leave the San Diego Padres a year after reaching the NLCS’ could end up being a headline you see at the end of the season, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

Dennis Lin in The Athletic

To be clear, Lin is just saying there has been speculation Melvin could choose to leave so this might not even be a possible scenario because this isn’t information he’s getting directly from the Padres skipper.

Melvin recently said he doesn’t plan on leaving unless told to do so. “I’m doing my job like I always have until someone tells me different,” Melvin told the media last Tuesday. “And I have not been told different.”

Even this being floated as a possibility speaks to the dysfunction of the Padres organization. Everyone knows Melvin is one of the most respected managers in the entire game and he was three wins away from the World Series last season so for him to step away from managing a team that has all this talent on it would be an inditement on A.J. Preller.

Melvin doesn’t seem like the guy that would do this sort of thing though. He might not want to deal with Preller but he probably doesn’t want to give up on the players in that clubhouse before his contract is up, which ends after the 2024 season.

If Melvin doesn’t want to step down, he may end up being dismissed by the organization anyway, which would be another ding on Preller’s resume because this would be his third managerial firing as the GM of this team.