It's Vitello

The Giants have yet to make the official announcement* but there's a picture of Coach V on the website and an article about the "near deal" in place.

Also, MLBTR has a confirmation from Tennessee AD Danny White that Vitello is leaving.

Amateur teams are not run by managers but rather by (head) coaches. Only professional teams have managers. Tony Vitello's entire baseball experience, from player to head coach, has taken place in the amateur realm. This is very unusual in MLB circles. Most managers come with professional experience of some kind.

It seems that Buster is a bust-a-move kinda guy. He doesn't sit back and make safe choices. He goes "all-in" on his vision. He shimmies when everyone else is still shakin'.

I think there are a few things happening. One, Buster believes players come to the big leagues not fully ready to play. They need more coaching, more development. Funny, that was Gabe Kapler's schtick! It didn't go over well. Vitello will need a different approach. Two, Buster thinks the team isn't sufficiently on top of the "little things" that come up in every game. Fundamentals and situational awareness, stuff like that. He wants a hyper-attentive captain at the helm.

Finally, the college game is increasingly professionalized. It's entirely invaded by corporate interests. Athletic budgets are in absurd territories. The whole NIL thing along with the transfer "portal" and all that crap has fundamentally changed the game. I remember when the College World Series was strictly for baseball nerds. I suspect there will be more movement between MLB and the NCAA going forward. 

Congratulations to Tony Vitello for nailing the job. Welcome to the Giants! And welcome to BusterTime™, Giants fans. Get used to the big and the bold from our kick-ass PoBO.

--M.C.

 

*they did so just a few minutes past noon Pacific Time

O Canada

The Blue Jays come from behind to nip the Mariners and secure their World Series berth. I think they are a better match for the Dodgers, but I was hoping for Seattle. LA looks like the easy favorite here with their formidable starting rotation. Time to break out the Molson's or whatever passes for Canadian brew these days.

I suppose we'll hear about the new manager soon.

--M.C.

Tony Vitello?

 MLBTR says the Giants are going to hire Tony Vitello to be the next manager.

I mentioned him earlier as a "dark horse" candidate. He's the head coach at Tennessee and has a spectacular NCAA resumé. College coaches don't usually become MLB managers. But guys don't usually throw six shutout innings and hit three homers in the same game, either. Lots of things are possible.

Buster is going to do things his way! (Assuming the rumor is true, of course.)

--M.C.

Bye-bye BoMel

In keeping with the old baseball adage "ya gotta blame somebody!" Giants PoBO Buster Posey fired manager Bob Melvin. Earlier in the year it was reported that the Giants had picked up Melvin's option for 2026. I thought that meant they were giving him one more go-round. Apparently not! Matt Williams (third base) and Ryan Christenson (bench coach) are gone as well. Could be more coaching shake-ups to come.

Buster doesn't like to mess around. He's not very patient. I suppose if you are Rookie of the Year and win the World Series in your first season in the majors you develop a NOW mentality. Buster wants to win NOW.

This team should have done better. I suppose changing the skipper is one way to address that. Posey has made his impact on the team with the big free agent signing of Willy Adames and the blockbuster mid-season trade for Rafael Devers. Now he gets to hand-pick his manager. I'm insanely curious! Who does he think will do a better job?

The Twins fired their manager (Rocco Baldelli), too.

--M.C.

#81, #30, and #15

SF 4  COL 0

The Giants get their 81st win and thus avoid a losing season. It's not a winning season, of course. But it's not a losing season, either! That's something at least.

Willy Adames gave the home crowd a thrill with a leadoff homer. Nice move by BoMel to put him in the first slot. The home run was his 30th and that breaks the infamous team-wide 30-homer drought. Barry Bonds hit 45 in 2004 and that's the last time a Giants player has cracked the 30 mark. Brandon Belt had 29 in 97 games in 2021. Matt Chapman had 27 last year.

Logan Webb started but was pulled after 5-1/3 innings. The team hung on to complete the shutout and Webb got his 15th win for the season. That matches his career high from 2022. Webb finishes with 207 IP, the most in MLB (Garret Crochet had 205-1/3). He also has the most starts (34) and is tied with Crochet and Christopher Sánchez for the most Quality Starts (22). He struck out a career-high 224 which trails only Crochet (255) and Tarik Skubal (241) for the MLB lead (it's the most in the NL).

Spencer Bivens earned the save with two hitless innings. He gave up a walk in the 8th but struck out the side in the 9th. He entered with a 2-0 lead and the Giants got two more in the 9th. That's two saves this weekend for Bivens and 53 appearances (79 IP) overall. He's got some gnarly-looking stuff and it looks like he'll be in the mix for a high-leverage role in 2026. 

Here are the Giants W-L records for the last four seasons (since they won 107 and the West in 2021): 81-81 in 2022, 79-83 in 2023, 80-82 last year, and 81-81 this year. I think that is the very definition of "mediocrity." At least they aren't the Rockies! Anyway, it would be nice to see this group win some games next season. There's enough talent to compete with teams like the Reds, the Mets, the Cardinals, and the Diamondbacks. The five-way scrum for the final Wild Card ended up with the Giants on the bottom! They were a better team than that and should have finished strong with a real shot at the post-season.

There will be plenty to talk about in the off-season, of course. We'll get around to it, I'm sure. In the meantime I will root for Milwaukee to go all the way. How can you not root for a club called the BREWERS? If not them then someone like Cleveland or Seattle.

Thanks for reading along,

 --M.C.

#80

SF 4  COL 3

The Giants tried hard to lose today but they couldn't quite get that done and wound up winning their 80th game. They only had four hits so they had to make them count. Casey Schmitt hit a three-run homer in the 2nd (his 12th) and Rafael Devers added an RBI double in the 8th. That was the difference. Ryan Walker came in to save the 4-2 lead and gave up a solo homer and then got into a mess. Spencer Bivens bailed him out. Matt Chapman made a great play to end the game--the Rockies had loaded the bases and were poised to spoil the afternoon.

Justin Verlander bounced back from his lousy start last time out and delivered a quality six frames with seven whiffs. Both runs he allowed were on solo homers. Joel Peguero and Tristan Beck followed with a scoreless inning apiece.

Tomorrow Logan Webb takes the hill (12:05 PT). He's looking for win number 15. We are all looking for Willy Adames to hit his 30th homer.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

#79

SF 6  COL 3

Trevor McDonald pitched well in his last start (against the Dodgers in LA) and followed that up with another strong effort last night. He powered through seven frames on 89 pitches, whiffing ten and walking none against five hits. One of the hits was a three-run homer, but other than that he did great. The Giants will need to beef up the rotation for 2026--maybe McDonald will be part of that.

Willy Adames was the Willie Mac Award winner and he chipped in homer number 29 in the 1st inning. Everyone is rooting for him to get number 30 this weekend.

Ryan Walker pitched the 9th and got his 17th save. He's another guy the Giants really need! Heliot Ramos hit homer number 21 and Jung Hoo Lee nabbed his 12th triple. Matt Chapman got his 1000th career hit.

Today's game is at 1:05. Go Giants!

--M.C.