Giants Bulletin: The precipitous fall of the Bob Melvin era, and everything Posey said to media in its wake

It’s hard to comprehend just how fast things went south for Bob Melvin in his second season as manager of the San Francisco Giants. When the Giants traded for Rafael Devers in mid-June, they held a share of first place. In an instant, most perceived the new look Giants to be championship contenders. Three months and a whole lot of bad baseball later, Melvin was shown the door by President of Baseball Oprations Buster Posey after the Giants failed to make the playoffs in a league where the final seed won just 84 games.

The decision to part ways with Melvin comes just three months after the Giants publicly picked up his contract option for 2026. Posey acknowledged the unfortunate optics of that given the current move, but stated that he had hoped the vote of confidence would galvanize the clubhouse and allow Melvin to manage more freely. It clearly did not.

A year ago, Buster Posey stated in his introductory press conference that the Giants are in the “memory making business.” Those core memories come in the postseason, above all else. That playoff expectation should be the standard annually, something Posey has said time and time again. In two years under Melvin, the team just wasn’t reaching that.

So what is Posey looking for in a manager? What kind of personality and profile will he seek as he makes by far the biggest decision of his tenure as president of baseball operations so far? It seems like he wants a blend of old school and new. A manager who will consult analytics and use them to the best of his advantage, while also managing with feel and commanding a clubhouse as the best leaders have for over a century. He outlined the specifics of what he’d like to see on the top step of the dugout during yesterday’s press conference immediately after the Melvin news dropped.