Oakland Athletics: All-Decade Team for the 2010s

Manager: Bob Melvin

There really isn’t another choice.

Bob Geren got a season and a half with the Oakland A’s in the 2010s and it led to a below-.500 record. Once he was booted, the Oakland A’s became Melvin’s ball club to manage.

Bob Melvin had already managed for the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks, but he’s perfectly fit into the culture of the Oakland A’s since coming on with the club.

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Much of the team’s overall success comes down to Melvin’s ability to mix and match with the players that he’s given in order to field a successful team. Of course, that hasn’t happened every single year, but the A’s are always exceeding expectations.

Melvin is consistently commended for his ability to be a players’ coach; in that he can connect with multiple players and unite them with a common goal.

His background as a catcher has also given him an edge in game-planning, especially around identifying quality backstop options that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Though the A’s were unable to make any serious run into the playoffs in the 2010s, they’ve cemented a winning culture and underdog mentality that keeps people loose while also pushing them to take advantage of the low expectations.

Many Oakland Athletics fans take for granted what Bob Melvin has been able to do for this ball club, but he should be applauded for it.

The successes of the last nine seasons might rest heavily on the shoulders of the skipper.