{"id":233912,"date":"2025-10-23T02:12:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T02:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233912\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T02:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T02:12:27","slug":"5-thoughts-on-buster-poseys-bold-and-risky-hiring-of-tony-vitello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233912\/","title":{"rendered":"5 thoughts on Buster Posey\u2019s bold and risky hiring of Tony Vitello"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is not just any kind of managerial moment for the Giants because the Dodgers are not just any kind of rival \u2014 they\u2019re the archenemy, the empire, and prime tormentor.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers can make you quit or they can force you to realize you have to commit every iota of energy and creativity available to try to track them down. You need a moonshot or two, basically.<\/p>\n

Obviously, Buster Posey is very aware of all this. Posey, maybe more than anybody because of his position as president of baseball operations and his life as a competitor, is living all of this.<\/p>\n

And his risky\/bold\/clever\/perilous hiring of Tony Vitello on Wednesday to replace Bob Melvin as manager is a clear manifestation of this reality and this true jeopardy for the Giants.<\/p>\n

Listen toSection 415<\/p>\n

Today<\/p>\n

Section 415: Ballers manager Aaron Miles on bringing a title back to Oakland<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

4 days ago<\/p>\n

Section 415: Cricket is on the rise in the U.S., and the Bay Area is a hotbed<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tuesday, Oct. 14<\/p>\n

Section 415: Steph Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, and a Warriors season preview<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Could hiring a manager with a massive personality but no previous major-league experience lead to utter failure? Of course it could. That might even be the way to bet on this one.<\/p>\n

But unless they take big risks, how else are the Giants going to make up the ground the Dodgers have seized? What are Posey and general manager Zack Minasian supposed to do \u2014 act like a normal manager with a normal roster can somehow do anything except finish around .500, like the Giants have done for four consecutive seasons (coincidentally, the exact time frame since Posey ended his Hall of Fame playing career after the 2021 season)?<\/p>\n

No, we\u2019re discovering that Posey is not about the cautious executive life. We\u2019re learning that even though he was quite buttoned-down as a player, he\u2019s a born gambler as a decision-maker.<\/p>\n

First came the mega deal to sign Willy Adames last offseason. Followed by the epic trade for Rafael Devers a few months ago. Then the firing of Melvin when there were many reasons to keep him, including the 2026 salary Posey guaranteed in July. <\/p>\n

\"ABuster Posey\u2019s trade for Rafael Devers was the biggest blockbuster of the summer in the majors. | Source: Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

And now, the hiring of Vitello, whose fiery and funny personality seems polar opposite to Posey. But when you think about it, Vitello\u2019s huge presence fits this moment and Posey\u2019s imperative just about perfectly.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t beat the Dodgers by being a lesser, cheaper, quieter version of them. You have to be different. You have to try things. You have to put yourself and the franchise out there on the edge of the envelope. The Giants also need more good players, no doubt, but they need to gain in all areas, starting with the manager.<\/p>\n

Vitello is going to be different. He\u2019s going to be outside the borders of known MLB things. He\u2019s probably going to get into some arguments and create some controversies \u2014 just like he did while pushing the University of Tennessee team to higher levels. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the whole point of hiring Vitello. And I think that\u2019s all the stuff that Posey could not resist once he started looking into this choice.<\/p>\n

Posey seems like a traditionalist, and I think in many ways he is. Posey has a ton of credibility with Giants fans and his fellow owners partly because he\u2019s known to be such a level-headed guy who is so invested in the Giants\u2019 culture and brand. <\/p>\n

But he also has credibility because he\u2019s a winner. At least, he was as a player. And that\u2019s what Posey is leaning into now and why he couldn\u2019t stand by and let this mediocre era continue without doing something. Without doing everything.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s my first thought on this fascinating hiring, here are four others \u2026<\/p>\n

2. This reminds me of Stanford\u2019s hiring of Jim Harbaugh to run the football program in December 2006<\/p>\n

No, this is not an exact match. Stanford football was in a far lower place at that time than the Giants are now. All the Stanford administration wanted was relevancy. But Harbaugh wanted more than that, announced it, then dragged the program to amazing places.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where I see the parallel to Vitello and the Giants now. You\u2019ve got the Dodgers right there, the same way Harbaugh was looking up at the USC dynasty. <\/p>\n

It took all of Harbaugh\u2019s audacity and swagger to convince Stanford it could take on USC. It will take that kind of approach to go after the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see if Vitello can do it. I know he won\u2019t be shy about it.<\/p>\n

3. The Tyler Rogers trade with the Mets last July \u2014 which brought Drew Gilbert to the Giants \u2014 altered the course of this franchise<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it\u2019s crazy to suggest that if this trade never happens, Gilbert never shows up in the Giants\u2019 dugout, and Posey never sees the energy boost that followed \u2026 the Giants might have a different manager right now.<\/p>\n

Gilbert, perhaps the signature player of Vitello\u2019s Tennessee tenure, changed things for the Giants after being brought up in August. I\u2019m not sure how this all happened, but you could tell just watching his teammates react to Gilbert.<\/p>\n

\"\"Drew Gilbert immediately provided the Giants with more personality and energy after his MLB debut. | Source: David Zalubowski\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like the Giants immediately started winning when Gilbert arrived. It was mostly the opposite, at least early on. But it felt different and lighter with Gilbert around \u2014 it was goofy and entertaining in an authentic way. And if Gilbert is vouching for Vitello, which I\u2019m sure he is, then the clubhouse isn\u2019t starting from scratch with the new boss.<\/p>\n

4. Posey believes in strong personalities<\/p>\n

Back in November 2019, when the Giants held a tense presser to announce the controversial managerial choice of Gabe Kapler, Posey was a notable attendee, took in every word (I was standing right next to him), then answered several questions afterward (opens in new tab)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was making a symbolic point by being there. Then he made some literal points. I asked Posey back then: Could Kapler\u2019s strong personality work with a team that just experienced so much success with somebody as calm as Bruce Bochy?<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess to answer your question, I think strong personalities always play well here in San Francisco,\u201d Posey said then. \u201cThey have from my experience here. Ultimately, it\u2019s about winning baseball games. If you don\u2019t win baseball games, your strong personality doesn\u2019t work. But if you are able to win, (and it) seems like he\u2019s adamant about ingraining himself in the community, I think fans will ultimately come to have an appreciation for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TwoZack Minasian and Buster Posey are betting that the Giants\u2019 clubhouse will benefit from Vitello\u2019s energy and passion. | Source: Thomas Sawano\/The Standard<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think Kapler would\u2019ve necessarily been Posey\u2019s first choice at that point. And I\u2019d guess that he was part of a management faction that encouraged Zaidi to move on from Kapler after the 2023 season.<\/p>\n

But even in 2019, Posey very clearly understood what guys like Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, and Pablo Sandoval meant to Giants fans \u2014 and to winning. Posey wasn\u2019t one of those huge personalities, but I think he always appreciated what they meant to a team when everything was channeled correctly.<\/p>\n

5. The Posey regime will be defined by Vitello\u2019s success or failure, just like Farhan Zaidi\u2019s tenure was defined by Kapler\u2019s rise and fall<\/p>\n

The benefit of bold decisions is that you\u2019re doing things almost nobody else would do and can take advantage of things almost nobody else can envision.<\/p>\n

Maybe in three or four years, this hiring will seem like the advent of a new managerial era. Maybe everybody will be looking for the next Vitello and other teams will be trying to hire him away.<\/p>\n

But what if Vitello runs aground? I don\u2019t think Posey will ever be fired, but what\u2019s his next move? Go for an even bolder choice? Take the managerial reins himself? No, I think this is Posey\u2019s leap of faith.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got his guy. He and Minasian will have every motivation to build a roster that can win. And it\u2019ll be up to Vitello to prove that Posey was right about this and everything else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,31170,591,5157,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-233912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-buster-posey","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-san-francisco-giants","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}