Nevius: Why not Bob Melvin as Giants' next skipper?

After Sunday afternoon, we will have just six games left in the Bruce Bochy Farewell Tour. And yet a rampaging debate has yet to break out about whom the Giants should hire as their next manager.

So if nobody is going to step up I’ll get this started …

The Giants would be crazy not to consider hiring A’s manager Bob Melvin.

It seems like a no-brainer for at least an interview. The Giants’ Overseer of All Things, Farhan Zaidi, worked with Melvin for over five years with the A’s and surely appreciated his work. Melvin is also still close with team CEO Larry Baer, although it is not clear how much influence Baer has now.

Now, you’re going to say that Melvin has a signed contract with the A’s through 2021. And that’s true. However, it has been reliably reported that there are ways out of that contract - if there is enough incentive.

The qualifications are obvious. Melvin is only the sixth man to win Manager of the Year in both the National League (Arizona, 2007) and American League (Oakland twice, including last year). If the A’s get to the postseason this year, and they are in strong position to do so, he’ll be in the hunt again.

The kicker, of course, is that he’s been doing it with what is reliably the lowest, or near-lowest, payroll in baseball. The big money stars Melvin sees are generally on their way out of the clubhouse, headed to a team that is willing to pay them.

The facilities, of course, are disgraceful. Wednesday I watched a fan chase a foul ball through six inches of standing water. The clubhouse looks like a set from “Happy Days.” (That’s an old TV show people used to watch.)

To which you reply, wait a minute. A case could be made that the A’s success is a credit to excellent talent scouting and minor league development. It takes more than knowing when to call for a pitchout to make a team successful.

And that is true. All credit to the scouts and instructors.

But that approach comes with its own problems. Inevitably, a manager on a budget will be dealing with young players who are having their first Major League experience. In a game diabolically designed to induce mind games, handling those young guys is tricky business.

Which is why I have been impressed at the arc of the season over the past two years. Each year the team has started slowly - 36-36 on June 16 this year and 34-36 on June 15 in 2018 - but has closed with a rush. Each time they’ve made an improbable wild-card playoff run.

That’s a sign of a team growing in confidence and experience. You have to be impressed with their relaxed swagger. The Yankees? Yeah, we swept them in three here. Who else you got?

They’re a lot of fun. And kind of goofy. Last week some of the guys talked pitcher Mike Fiers into shaving off half his beard. And then Fiers one-upped them by taking the mound with the half-off whiskers.

When one of the A’s has a big day, they gather around in the clubhouse and let him take a shot at the tiny basketball hoop above one of the lockers. Melvin may not have suggested the beard or put up the hoop, but he’s there.

After Wednesday’s game, which Mark Canha won with a walkoff double, Melvin made sure to mention that Canha, “Made the shot too, which is rare.”

Stephen Vogt, the much-missed former A’s catcher who is now a surprise hit with the Giants, said it best earlier in the year.

“Winning creates chemistry,” he said. “And chemistry creates winning.”

Now, if you ask Melvin about this, he is almost certain to say, “I am happy where I am.”

And he probably is. But as a Bay Area guy he knows - even if he doesn’t say it - the Giants would be an upgrade.

And make no mistake. He is a Bay Area guy. Raised in Menlo Park, he went to Cal and still lives in Berkeley. He was a catcher for the Giants for three years.

But if you go to his office, it is likely the first thing he shows you are his framed photos from Day on the Green, the famed Bill Graham concert held annually at the Oakland Coliseum. As he will tell you, he was there - more than once. How many managers can say that?

Now, for all we know, the Giants may already have someone in mind. Maybe they are just waiting for the final out in the final game to announce him.

But if not, and if there is interest from the Giants, they can make a compelling case for Melvin.

He’d like to work with a young, emerging roster, which will almost certainly be the case with next year’s Giants. He’d definitely like to come to work at a gorgeous, showcase ballpark on the water.

And, by the way, it might be nice to actually play in front of some crowds for a change. At Wednesday’s game the A’s attendance was announced as 16,714.

The Giants are averaging twice that.

And they are disappointed.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius