The New York Mets have been in the hunt for a new team president and manager for upwards of a month. In that time, all we’ve heard about is their various unsuccessful targets.
We can now add another to the list. According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Mets spoke to then-Oakland manager Bob Melvin when it became clear that he would be open to leaving the Athletics. However, Melvin turned down the Mets, albeit largely for geographic reasons, to take the San Diego Padres job instead.
Mets were aware Bob Melvin was available and did talk to him about their open managing job but It quickly became clear due to his Phoenix area residence he much preferred to go to a West Coast team that trains in Arizona.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 2, 2021
Melvin’s reasons don’t have much to do with the Mets other than location. That said, at this point, it doesn’t look good anytime the Mets get turned down.
The good news is there are accomplished options out there for the Mets to pursue. Unfortunately, it’s not clear that they’re on the verge of landing any of them. The longer this goes, the worse it looks.
Photo: Dec 9, 2019; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin speaks to the media during the MLB Winter Meetings at Manchester Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
