SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres announced the hiring of Bob Melvin as manager on Monday, bringing a veteran presence to an exciting team that imploded down the stretch.

Melvin takes his 18 years of big league managerial experience to a team where his two predecessors had no experience as a major league skipper before they were hired. Melvin, 60, signed a three-year contract.

He inherits a team that had five All-Stars — including Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth — but underperformed after the trade deadline and finished with a losing record for the 10th time in 11 seasons.

Melvin replaces Jayce Tingler, who was fired after the worst collapse in team history dropped the Padres from a one-game lead for the NL’s second wild-card spot on Sept. 9 to elimination with more than a week left in the season.

Melvin was hired away from the Oakland Athletics, where he was 853-764 in 11 seasons. He also managed the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks and is 1,346-1,272 overall.

He won the AL Manager of the Year twice with the A’s and once with the Diamondbacks.

Melvin has led his teams to seven postseason appearances and four division titles. By comparison, the Padres have been to the postseason only six times since their inaugural season of 1969.

The Padres were set to introduce Melvin at a late morning news conference.

“Bob is one of the top managers in the game and brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and a proven track record to win at the major league level,” general manager A.J. Preller said in a statement.

“Throughout the process, Bob showed our group a true love of baseball and a natural presence to lead,” Preller added. “It was immediately evident how he’s been able to bring out the best in his players throughout his managerial career. We believe that Bob is the right man to take our talented group and help them deliver a championship to the city of San Diego.”

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