Bob Melvin is leaving the AL West at the perfect time for the LA Angels

Evan Desai

Oct 3, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin (6) looks on from the dugout before the start of the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The LA Angels now have Bob Melvin out of the AL West, as he’s now the Manager of the San Diego Padres.

Melvin has struggled in the postseason, but is one of the best regular season managers in the game. He’s won three Manager of the Year awards, and the Angels’ struggles in the last seven years have been in the regular season. It’s a good thing to get one of the best regular season managers away from this division, as we are of course set to play our division rivals close to 20 times per season.

It’s not only that, however, but the A’s will likely need to launch a rebuild, at least to some extent, and that comes at the perfect time for the Angels.

Bob Melvin couldn’t be leaving the AL West at a more perfect time for the LA Angels.

Not only do the LA Angels get to avoid a great regular season Manager much more than they typically do, but the A’s rebuilding could take a very long time.

And that rebuild will likely need to happen. Many were already speculating that the A’s were going to trade some of their core players, such as Matt Olson and Matt Chapman.

The A’s have a limited potential payroll, so they can’t try to rebuild their team through signing many big free agents. The Angels already have spent big money on current core players, and still have lots of money left over to sign big pieces this offseason.

They are going to be upgrading, while the A’s are going to have to sell. The Angels also weren’t healthy last year, so they should improve regardless of what happens this offseason simply by getting a few core players (including the best baseball player of the past decade) back.

The A’s are one of three teams who were better than the Halos this season, but keeping that up once again will be a challenge for Oakland.

Evan Desai

Evan Desai has covered MLB with FanSided for 3 years, first as a contributor for FanSided's New York sports publication--Empire Writes Back--and now as the expert at Halo Hangout, the Angels publication for the network. He also runs Reign Of Troy, the USC FanSided publication, and has covered college sports since 2019--most notably USC and UCLA for the Pac-12 Network, University of Arizona and Grand Canyon University for Arizona PBS, and Arizona State University for Sports Illustrated's ASU publication. He has also run the Clippers FanSided publication in the past, Clipperholics, and has made two stops at NBC Sports.