The San Francisco Giants have made the latest managerial hire of the 2025 offseason. After missing the playoffs in both of his seasons on the bench, Bob Melvin was let go by San Francisco. President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey is now entering his second offseason and has made a big splash. The Giants hired Tennessee Volunteers baseball coach Tony Vitello, which is a historic hiring. AJ Pierzynski of Foul Territory ranted about how the hiring could go poorly.

“He's gotta have a veteran bench coach, veteran pitching coaches, guys that have been around. Because if he just goes out and says, ‘Oh, I'm just gonna bring my Tennessee staff over here,' and they're like, “Hey, spring training starts next week. What's the plan?' ‘Oh, we'll just scrimmage every day like it is in college.” Well, that's not how it works.”

“This is a fascinating hire, good or bad, however it works out.”

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The Giants have high expectations, which is what makes this hiring even more notable. If the team was looking to develop young players at the MLB level, then Vitello would be perfect. But Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Logan Webb are a playoff-caliber core. Vitello will have high expectations once spring training opens.

The Giants did have an opportunity to bring back a franchise legend. Bruce Bochy left the Texas Rangers after three seasons in Arlington. He won three World Series with the Giants, and Posey was a key member of all three. But whether the 70-year-old did not want to coach or Posey wanted to go in a different direction, they decided to hire Vitello.

The Giants open the 2026 season at home against the New York Yankees before any other MLB team. March 25 will be the first game of Vitello's managerial career, which is a day before Opening Day.