Wow: ten minutes after I do an extended “Logan’s Run” riff on Bob Geren, speculating that he’ll be gone come this September when he turns 50, the A’s go and fire him. Geren is out: Bob Melvin takes over.
The A’s have lost nine in a row and absolutely nothing has gone right for them. They depended on the offense improving and it hasn’t. They depended on the pitching carrying them like last year and there have been injuries preventing that. And the whole reason for hiring a guy like Geren in the first place -- even keel, do the front office’s bidding, etc. -- was called into question a few weeks ago when Geren got into a public dispute with reliever Brian Fuentes. If a middle manager can’t keep the peace, what’s the point of having a middle manager? Given his famous friendship with Billy Beane, one wonders if he simply lost the A’s clubhouse entirely.
Replacing Geren is Bob Melvin, who compiled a 337-340 record in four-plus seasons with the Diamondbacks. The same Melvin who, just a couple of weeks ago, was re-hired by the Diamondbacks as a “special baseball advisor.” He probably hasn’t even finished his Dbacks new employee orientation yet, but now he’s the boss of the A’s.
Tough break, Bob. Congratulations on the new job, other Bob.
UPDATE: Here’s the Athletics’ full press release on the firing. It’s mostly just biography on Geren and Melvin. Presumably there will be a press conference later when someone can lie and say that Geren was not fired due to a full-on team revolt as many who have covered the A’s before are suggesting on Twitter this afternoon.