The Athletics' offseason is off to a bad start before it could even begin.
Shocking news broke Thursday when longtime A's manager Bob Melvin left Oakland to take over as the manager of the San Diego Padres, sources confirmed to NBC Sports California's Brodie Brazil.
Melvin agreed to a three-year contract with the Padres, MLB.com AJ Cassavell reported, citing sources.
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Manager of the A's for 11 seasons, Melvin's departure surprised everybody.
Just four months ago, the A's exercised Melvin's club option for the 2022 MLB season.
Not to further rub salt into the wounds of A's fans, but that aged VERY poorly.
Infielder Tony Kemp was the first current A's player to react to the news that Melvin was leaving Oakland.
It's hard to imagine there being a single person who wasn't shocked to hear this news.
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Oakland Athletics
Melvin was universally beloved throughout the A's clubhouse, and the fanbase. For an organization that has lost so many important players (and now managers) to bigger market teams throughout the years, this move appears to be a similar case.
The A's were a winning ball club this season, with potential to improve in the offseason and make a run at the playoffs in 2022. Whoever the A's end up replacing Melvin with will have very large shoes to fill.