It turns out AJ Preller might've not been the problem with Bob Melvin-Padres rift

The prevailing wisdom when Bob Melvin left the San Diego Padres to go manage the Giants was that Melvin was considered more of an old school manager that was somewhat open to analytics while the Padres' front office was on the bleeding edge of the data-driven approach to building baseball teams.

Hiring Mike Shildt to replace him put a dent in that narrative, but there definitely seemed like there was a rift between Melvin and the front office. The reports that surfaced after the fact very much suggested that.

As it turns out, it sounds like AJ Preller and Co. may not have been quite as heavy handed or responsible for San Diego's struggles under Melvin as initially thought.

During a recent interview, Melvin said that he struggled to adapt with the Padres because HE was too reliant on analytics. There is a lot to unpack here.

Bob Melvin talks about having trouble adapting with Padres

First and foremost, the fact the Padres were actually the ones that preferred for Melvin to go with his gut and not prescribe analytical solutions for him over and over again is pretty wild. San Diego has invested heavily on the data side in recent years, especially when it comes to player acquisition and development, so most tended to think that in-game decision-making would be the same.

More importantly, Melvin's reveal highlights his key deficiency as a manager that the Padres are likely glad to be rid of. He explained that he came from an Athletics organization that was very analytics-heavy. So with the Padres, he was given more autonomy and didn't know what to do with it, and is now with the Giants where data is again king.

The Padres have to be feeling better and better by the day that they went out and hired Shildt to replace Melvin. While Melvin has his strengths, Shildt has fit this Padres team seemingly perfectly while Melvin has struggled mightily after taking over the Giants' dugout. Sometimes things just work themselves out, although not always for the reasons we think.

With the Padres fighting for a surprise playoff berth in 2024 and the Giants looking arguably more lost than ever as an organization, clearly San Diego is doing something right.

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