Report: San Francisco Giants e...

The San Francisco Giants have zeroed in on their next manager.

The Giants are planning to hire current San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin as their next manager, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly. The Giants have yet to make the move official, though they are expected to do so in the coming days.

The Padres granted the Giants permission to speak to Melvin earlier this week, and he quickly became their top candidate for the job. Melvin had one year left on his contract in San Diego but reportedly clashed with general manager A.J. Preller frequently during his time with the team.

Now, Melvin is planning to return home to the Bay Area and lead the Giants.

Melvin, 61, just wrapped up his second season leading the Padres. They went 82-80 this season and missed the playoffs after advancing to the NLCS in 2022. Melvin has been a manager in Major League Baseball for two decades and got his first job with the Seattle Mariners in 2003. He spent five seasons leading the Arizona Diamondbacks before landing with the Oakland Athletics in 2011, where he stayed for a decade.

The Giants fired former manager Gabe Kapler last month with just a few games left in the regular season. He led them to their winningest season in franchise history in 2021, but they quickly fell out of contention in recent years. They went just 79-83 this season, Kapler’s fourth leading the franchise, and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

The Giants are one of several teams throughout the league searching for a new manager this offseason. The Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels also have open jobs, and Dusty Baker is expected to step away from his position leading the Houston Astros after they lost in the ALCS to the Texas Rangers on Monday.

The Giants reportedly interviewed several internal members of their staff for the managerial position, including bench coach Kai Correa and third-base coach Mark Hallberg. Assistant coach Alyssa Nakken interviewed for the job, too, which made her the first woman to formally interview for a manager job in Major League Baseball.