3 candidates to replace Bob Melvin if SF Giants decide to fire him

The SF Giants have completely collapsed in the last month and a half. There are a number of factors to be blamed, but many will point the finger at manager Bob Melvin. Here are three candidates to replace him if he gets fired by the Giants.

San Francisco has been atrocious in the last month and a half. Ever since the Rafael Devers trade the team has struggled and now finds themselves only somewhat tethered to the NL playoff picture. Their poor play forced president of baseball operations Buster Posey to sell at the trade deadline.

3 candidates to replace Bob Melvin if he is fired by SF Giants

The Giants count mount a miraculous comeback in the final two months of the season and make a run at the playoffs, but as of right now it seems like this team's playoff chances have vanished.

Whenever a team has an epic collapse like that, people are going to start talking about the job security of the manager.

Posey recently affirmed his confidence in Melvin and the rest of the coaching staff. That is really the only thing he can do a month after exercising Melvin's option for the 2026 season, a move that was popular with several key leaders on the Giants.

Yet, Melvin can still be fired. If the team completely collapses in these final two months and seems to quit on Melvin, Posey may have no other choice than to let him go. If he does, here are three candidates to replace Melvin.

1. Bruce Bochy

Oh, yeah. We are going there. Legendary manager Bruce Bochy, the man at the helm for all three of San Francisco's World Series titles in the 2010's, could be a free agent after this season. His contract with the Texas Rangers only runs through 2025, so he could be looking for a new team to manage next year.

It is hard to imagine a more appetizing situation to go into than returning to San Francisco, a city where he is beloved by the fanbase, where he would get to work with Posey who he managed for nearly a decade, and where he would be inheriting a roster that clearly has talented pieces but has underperformed.

This may seem like a fantasy, but Buster Posey becoming the president of baseball operations would have sounded like a fantasy a year ago so anything can happen.

2. Dusty Baker

Sticking with beloved former Giants managers, Dusty Baker could be another option to replace Melvin. Baker managed the Giants from 1993 to 2002 and led the team during a number of great seasons.

He won his first World Series as a manager back in 2022 with the Houston Astros. Now, he is a special advisor to the baseball operations department for the Giants so it would not be too hard to interview him for the role as Posey could stroll right down the hall.

3. Mark Hallberg

While Bochy and Baker would obviously be extremely experienced options, maybe the Giants would want to shake things up by making Mark Hallberg the new manager. He is currently the team's first base coach, a role he has held since 2024 and prior to that he was the team's third base coach.

The Giants interviewed Hallberg for the manager role following Gabe Kapler's firing, and the fact that he was teammates with Posey at Florida State made it seem like a distinct possibility that he could succeed Melvin once Posey took the reins of the front office.

He would represent a younger option who could perhaps better connect with the players than other more seasoned options.

We are a long way off from having to consider who Melvin's replacement could be. But if the Giants continue to play sloppy and finish the season well below .500 then maybe one of these candidates could be the new manager in 2026.

More from Around the Foghorn: