[Giants] The San Francisco Giants announced today that they have named Tony Vitello the 40th field manager in club history.
Good hire. He did amazing things at Tennessee.
Also probably a nice pay increase for him since he was only a Volunteer coach before.
I know you’re joking but he’s actually taking a pay cut
AND Bay Area cost of living, especially compared to Knoxville, TN?
The “pay cut” is due to state income tax and COL. His actually salary is going to be \(500k a year more than he was making (\)3.5M vs $3M)
So he’s going to effectively be lower middle class in San Fran
I hate you and everything you stand for….
Take my upvote 😂
God damn it
Ok, this was funny! Credit where credit is due.
Actually he took a pay cut…
He’s getting less than a Volunteer? Oof, dude needs to work on his negotiation tactics.
I see what you did there…
Is Tennessee in the AL or the NL?
Is this supposed to be a dig at his lack of MLB experience? Gotta start somewhere.
Big league umpires are going to fucking hate this guy
I don’t watch college baseball. Does he have a bad history with umps?
Honestly he’s just a bit of a prick. He’s extremely competitively intense and his UT teams pushed the limit on what was acceptable.
every SEC baseball program pushes the limit. see: UK intentionally slowing down a game last season to prevent a new inning from starting due to time constraints when they had the lead.
I don’t disagree at all
One of the old managers in the CCBL would do this (his park didn’t have lights) which was even more ridiculous because it’s supposed to be a development/draft scouting league and regular season games barely count (8 of 10 make playoffs)
I mean, you see that in every travel ball tournament out there too.
How??
Extremely brash, taunting, celebratory, shit-talking. I’m not an unwritten rules guy at all - in fact I love the bat flips and all that - but there were times I thought they pushed it. They were kinda the bad boys of college baseball. It was entertaining but I strongly doubt the same thing will translate to MLB. I think a lot is going to have to change for this to work.
Yeah it’s one of those things where it’s like I don’t give a fuck about unwritten rules, you’re just being douchebags lol
That said I’m an ECU alum which is a pretty big baseball school and there was a relatively contentious series between the two schools so that’s part of the hostility
UT and ECU had a contentious series? The last time they played each other looks to be 2016, two years before Vitello took the UT job, and the last time before that was in 2001.
As a UT alum, I’m well aware of Tennessee baseball’s reputation under Vitello, but as far as I know, ECU never faced a Vitello coached team.
I think I’m thinking of the 2024 regional, where they were in the same bracket but you’re right in that they didn’t end up meeting in the bracket. I just very much remember arguments between the fanbases about Tennessee’s antics and ECU having the Jungle at home which makes some fans mad too
But ECU choked so the showdown never happened lmao
That stuff works for young impressionable college kids, not pros that make \(20-\)50 mil a year and have families.
He will have to change his approach.
would be cool to see some fire again between giants and dodgers like the stupid puig/madbum thing.
i get that it was stupid, but as an outsider it was fun to point at that and say, “they look stupid”.
the “don’t look at me shirts” was hilarious. petty, but hilarious.
Really? From what I saw watching the Mariners I’m pretty sure pros also love to hit dingers, flip bats, and then throw on a celebration gimmick
That’s the team. Not the manager taunting and talking shit and acting immature.
So what you’re saying is the Giants are entering their Lasorda era
They are total douche bags and the coach encouraged the behavior
The two most common sights over the last few seasons of college baseball have been Tennessee hitting dingers, and Tennessee’s dugout yelling at…everyone.
That being said, Vitello’s ability to instill confidence in his players is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Obviously TBD how that translates to the big leagues, but I think it’s an interesting outside the box hire.
I also think sometimes we don’t give these guys enough credit to understand they’re going into a different environment. He’s not gonna show up to spring training and be surprised that there are 34 year olds with 3 kids on the team.
Nice. Sounds like the Giants will likely have an infusion of energy.
uNwRiTtEn RuLeZ!
Padres should’ve hired him just to give Ken Rosenthal a heart attack
Don’t worry the first time the Vitello led Giants do something good against the precious Dodgers he’ll have a column up
Sinister sling!
Mandatory fuck Ken Rosenthal.
His UT teams were also known for absolutely trashing visiting dugouts and locker rooms and leaving them like that
That doesn’t surprise me either. There wasn’t a whole lot of respect for anyone emanating from that program.
Gotta be a Vandy fan
There’s no proof of this and it’s just slander for karma
So what you’re saying is that Dodgers/Giants fights are back on the menu?
Works for college kids, not grown men making $50 mil a year.
I like him already
All true, but man were we really good while he was in Knoxville. Plus, the amount of former Vols under him in the bigs now is ridiculous
He comes off as a smart ass. Not to the umps but in general.
Better to be a smart ass than a dumbass.
I think jackass is the most fitting one for him personally
Well he bumped an umpire a couple of years back lol but he has mellowed a bit the last couple of years.
That could get interesting quick at the MLB level.
Hopefully he doesn’t get charged with assault.
This is going to go either very well or very poorly.
Kinda like hiring a former player with zero executive experience as your president of baseball operations. We’re doing it live, baby.
Managing by gut instincts. I’m excited to see what Buster does with the team.
FTD.
I mean, the worst thing they can do is lose more baseball games.
I’m all-in for what Buster is doing. It’s worth a shot at least.
I lived to see them win more World Series trophies than most fans will ever see their team win so I’m fine with Buster doing things differently if he’s given the opportunity
Man, I knew the GM pitula from somewhere in college, I forget how. But finding out he got that job was truly insane; you guys are really doing it live.
I don’t know what that means! To play us out??
It’s even year next year
Fuck
The Dodgers.
This decade we’ve only made playoffs in an odd year.
Makes sense. 2010 2012 2014 and now 2026 2028 2030
This hasn’t mattered in a decade lol
yeah it’s a boom or bust move for sure but for now anyways i’m on board, if only because it’s not the same tired carousel of ex managers of other MLB teams or bench/pitching coaches.
Yeah, I have my reservations about the hire, but given how bleak this year’s managerial pool was (Kurt Suzuki, really?), I get the mentality behind a bold, risky move like this.
I’m fine with meh and them living in purgatory.
If it goes poorly, Posey can just blame Gilbert. That guy’s energy is just too infectious.
Buster the absolute madman did it. So curious how this goes
IMO Buster has done a remarkable job in just his first year. Yeah the results weren’t quite there but it’s a good foundation to build on.
Adames, Verlander, and Devers were some of the best parts of our team this year and theyre all his contributions
He’s also responsible for getting the Chapman deal done before he was even president
Its amazing that Verlander was able to recover his season after that abysmal start. I recall Giants fans always dreading his starts early on, but then we found out that unc (grandpa at this point) still has it
Personally I like the idea and what he’s trying to do. I think he’s got the right mindset and balance between analytics and intangibles to build a team. Results weren’t there this year sure, but I felt the team construction was starting to make sense
Results weren’t there this year sure, but I felt the team construction was starting to make sense
Bryce Harper said he chose Philly before even hearing what the Giants were offering. He said he thought their aging lineup would slow the rebuild they needed. He could also have pointed out that Bobby Evans had helped to empty the farm and there wasn’t much talent in the pipeline.
This past season felt like the Giants might finally be pointed in the right direction. Their infield is looking good, and though the loss of Yastrzemski is regrettable, the outfield is at least competent. Pitching is an issue, they traded away some useful relievers, and they could use another starter or two. Hitting was erratic this year, but they clearly have several bats that can do a lot of damage. At least it feels like the team is making forward progress.
A coach who can get the boys fired up might be a big help. Vitello has the reputation of being a manager whose players will storm the barricades for him.
I’ve been curious btw how’s Eldridge faring? Always had a good feeling with him and I see Gilbert is already playing with the big club. Knew he’d be solid
I’d say he’s done a pretty good job: not great, but not horrible.
A lot of it will probably depend on how Devers and Adames adjust to hitting at Oracle.
They seem to be pretty good judging from this season, Adames still hit 30HR even though he was in an AWFUL slump to start the season (I blame that on him not being used to March/April SF weather) and Devers’ power works everywhere, although he does turn Triples Alley into Doubles Alley hahaha.
Adames has never been a high average guy he always seems to bat .250ish or less but still has a decent slugging.
i don’t have the stats in front of me but in addition to what davey said below, Devers hit more HR the half the season he was with the Giants than with the Sox. if he still hits a lot even mostly away that’d be a big win. not only that but he was still walking a ton.
A lot of his Green Monster doubles at Fenway translate to homers at Oracle.
Without looking up the numbers, it felt like they were both doing well in the second half. Hopefully they keep it up.
Well at least Buster is trying. The past decade except for one fluke year (Wilmer didn’t swing btw) hasn’t been working.
Dark hair. Check. Beard. Check. Looks like a SF Giant. Check.
My first reaction to seeing him was “Oh no, he’s hot”.
Back to the manager being the hottest guy on the team again
How dare you insult my glorious king Jung Hoo Lee
Yea, Grandson of the Wind deserves some respect
Just like the WS years…
Wait, what?
Felipe Alou erasure.
No.. keep going
I’m sorry have you seen Willy Adames?
Ahh I can relate. Just like my Lakers!
Im glad the giants finally stepped out of the box and didnt do the same rehire the same old candidates cycle that we see in major sports, its about time
Honestly I’m kinda here for it. Giants have had bump on a lot managers recently and I’d love to see some fire and competitiveness from them again
They hired Kapler, who is exactly what you just described, before Melvin. So they’ve been down this path just a few years ago.
The guy who had previously managed the Phillies? Lol
Kapler is an ex MLB player and had already been a manager before
They both are young managers with their different approaches that are ‘outside of the box’ and aren’t from the typical run of the mill guys.
Gabe kapler was just a monumental douchebag tho
Seems like the new manager is kind of similar, but not a total dbag? Either way, if you’re going to be a hardline manager, Buster is gonna have to get those guys on board or find the guys willing to tolerate it. As in all functional/good relationships, there has to be some level of compromise from the players and manager.
Kapler also lost the clubhouse by being an absolutely terrible communicator
A writer in the *SF Chronicl*e suggested today that pro players will resent a manager who never played in the big leagues, and that Vitello having a beard similar to Gabe Kapler’s could mean that he won’t be respected in MLB. An unnamed “MLB executive” was quoted as saying MLB thinks Vitello needs “to be humbled” because he’s cocky like Kapler was.
Being a sportswriter seems to mean you can make up nonsense and get paid for it pretty much every day. Anyone who has read Mike Shropshire’s book Seasons in Hell about covering the 73-75 Texas Rangers can confirm, some can and do just make it up and get paid for it.
The idea that they wouldn’t respect him because of his beard lol
This reminded me of that MGK diss on Eminem when he said his beard was weird 😂
Plenty of respected beards in San Francisco no less
pro players will resent a manager who never played in the big leagues
This is why having someone like Buster at the position that he occupies is so crucial for something like this…
He’s literally done it all at the major league level as a player and now has a heavy hand on the direction of the franchise, so if he is the one installing someone like a Vitello i’d imagine that it would resonate positively with the players given Buster’s pedigree.
This is the answer; until it isn’t. Buster will be given the benefit of the doubt for awhile. He will need to make some colossal mistakes before the player or fans second guess him.
Brian Snitker never made it out of the minors, coached for 300 years, and won a World Series.
John Schneider didn’t play in the big leagues and he’s literally managing a World Series team.
But he did play in the minors and has been part of the coaching staff in the Blue Jays org. for more than 20 years.
They have at least two guys on their 40 man roster that played for him which should help quite a bit (Gilbert/Tidwell)
Can’t believe this is how I find out that I didn’t get the job
Same, do they know how many World Series I’ve won on MLB The Show. This is outrageous
Can’t fool us Pedro Paschal 😏
Looks more like Diego Luna to me.
Yeah he really does, I wasn’t familiar with him 😅
The guy is everywhere.. movies, TV shows, Major League dugouts
https://media.tenor.com/gQdWT9JTqcsAAAAM/smiling-javi-gutierrez.gif
Garrett Crochet the most notable player out of Tennessee since Tony Vitello was at the helm. Tennessee has produced 9 first round picks over the last four seasons, so Vitello has a real penchant for developing young talent. The Giants 2025 1st rounder was out of Tennesse, Gavin Kilen.
Angels rookie Christian Moore and 103 mph reliever Ben Joyce are a couple more notable players.
The Giants also acquired former Volunteers Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell at the trade deadline this year. Makes me wonder how long they had been contemplating this as a potential hire
Successful or not it’s innovative and worth the shot
Please tell me this guy’s nickname is Tony Veal.
Gabagool? Ova heeeeeeeeere
I been dreaming of that fuckin lo mein all the way the fuck over here!!!
It is now
Please make it happen, Giants fans.
“You and Tony Egg, again”.
Nonzero chance this is baseballs equivalent to the Jags hiring Urban Meyer
Without even mentioning how recruiting isn’t a part of pro ball, college coaches rarely work bc pro players are grown men who view you as a peer, not an authority figure. The high pressure, authoritative style that works in a 60 game college could easily burn out players in a 162 game season
Career college coaches also struggle to adapt to a role where they are not the one with the final say and ultimate control, when one does it’s an exception
There’s a nonzero chance that every single hire ever could be a disaster like what you’re alluding to. Not exactly saying much or going out on any sort of limb.
This has never happened before in baseball, so of course you will assume it will end like the worst outcome of a college coach in football? There is no precedent in baseball for a hire like this. Sure it can end badly, but it can also be wildly successful, spurning more franchises to follow suit. Like Billy Beane introducing a reliance on analytics. Someone has to do it first.
College coaches going pro isn’t a new concept, its been tried in other sports for decades to inconsistent success. Pitino, Calpari, Meyer, Saban, Rhule, Hoiberg, all excellent college coaches, all people who’s skillsets were not tuned for the pro game. It goes the other way too, Mike Woodson was a solid NBA head coach but a disaster at Indiana.
Nobody’s ever done this in MLB because the college game is even further removed from the pro level. In other sports college is the level directly below the pros, and all pros play in college. In MLB, college is 3 steps below MLB and only around 1⁄2 of the players in MLB play in college
Again you’re proving my point by only mentioning a collection of basketball and football coaches.
No one has tried it in baseball! While you’re correct it’s failed miserably in other sports, it is an ignorant statement to say it will definitely fail in baseball too, because those other similar but different businesses failed.
The chips are stacked against him but managing a team over the course of 162 games is dramatically different from coaching 17 games at the NFL level. So saying coaches failed in football, so they should fail in baseball is just flat out wrong.
I see Andor, I upvote
Babe Kapler who?
Get a bucket and a mop
“we are one hand tattoo away from running it entirely back”
they basically have to sign scherzer now right?
Didn’t they play together?
Vitello was a coach at Missouri when Scherzer was there. Vitello recruited Scherzer.
I’m fucking hyped for this. Been watching this guy terrorize the SEC for the last few years and absolutely wishing he was leading a team I could actually cheer for (I’m a Gators fan) and now I can be out and proud in my love for Tony V!!!
Another day, another moment my heart has shattered to the amusement of a Florida fan
The orange life is rough
Hate it for you, man.
/s
Well, we are both praying for his success in SF
I’ll vomit everywhere if it doesn’t work out and I have to see Tony V coaching the Razorbacks in 2030
Oof, yeah that would suck hard…
Truly a “fuck it we ball” situation.
Ton’ Vitello!
Oohhhh, Ton’ Vitell’ ova here
With next year being an even year, too….👀
I don’t have any feelings about this at all. But if people are making it as big of a deal on having a college coach become a MLB manager. I can only imagine the things happening if a MLB team ever hires a female manager. We are still years/decades from that happening but with the introduction of a womens baseball league. It’s def moving closer to that happening one day.
The Giants were so close…
Alyssa Nakken
Nakken became the first woman to coach on the field in a regular season major league game on April 12, 2022, when the Giants substituted her into the game as the first base coach after Antoan Richardson was ejected during the top of the third inning of a game against the San Diego Padres.[10] In 2023, Nakken was interviewed for a managerial position with the San Francisco Giants, making her the first woman to interview for any managerial position with a Major League Baseball team.[11][12]
Nakken became the first woman to coach on the field in a regular season major league game on April 12, 2022, when the Giants substituted her into the game as the first base coach after Antoan Richardson was ejected during the top of the third inning of a game against the San Diego Padres.[10]
In 2023, Nakken was interviewed for a managerial position with the San Francisco Giants, making her the first woman to interview for any managerial position with a Major League Baseball team.[11][12]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyssa_Nakken
Will be interesting to see how the womens baseball league does. I actually would give it a shot. I think it’s going to be difficult to take what many consider a slow pace game & then have less pitchers throwing high velocity, long home runs etc. It will have challenges. I think the only reason the WNBA is still around is because the NBA subsidies it. Not sure that will happen with this league. But I would def give it a try. I always felt womens volley ball was fun to watch but not a lot of people get into that.
I thought this was a pic of Robbie ray
Surprised it took this long for a college coach to get a MLB job. Intrigued to see how he does. Seems like baseball is the least different between College and Pros
There have been other college coaches in MLB (Pat Murphy is probably the most notable), but yeah Vitello making the jump directly doesn’t have much precedent https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2025/10/22/college-coaches-jump-mlb-tony-vitello-san-francisco-giants-tennessee/86836258007/
Let’s goooooooooo
I have my reservations about the hire, but given how bleak this year’s managerial pool was (Kurt Suzuki, really?), I get the mentality behind a bold, risky move like this.
if it works, the front office will be hailed as geniuses. If it fails, the fan base will eat them alive.
The Nick Siriani of college baseball makes his way to the pros. Hold on to your butts.
This dude looks like a randomly generated manager on The Show
I didn’t realize Justin Timberlake even liked baseball! Good for him!
Wow! As an LSU baseball fan, I don’t hate this.
This guy gonna be a pain in the ass for lazy and big ego players 😁
Is “Tony Vitello” what Eminem goes by now?
I still have nightmares of when the Flyers did this. Took the “best” college coach and it just totally failed. Not sure if it’s ever happened in baseball before but it’s such a massive risk. Rarely works in the NFL too. Any luck/history of it in the NBA?
Realistically, even if it blows up, ill take this risk over another year of mediocrity with melvin
Sort of? Brad Stevens is probably the most successful recent example, but his NBA title came as an executive, not a Head Coach.
The Brewers head coach Pat Murphy was a very successful college head coach, but he also put in some time in the minors and as a bench coach.
What’s the worst that could happen really in the MLB? He’s a bad bullpen manager?
Todd Helton, HOF, Knoxville native
Good stuff 👍
He’s a fucking prick
Must be a Vandy fan
Kind of looks like the Wendigoon guy
Dude that is Robbie Ray what are you talking about
Welcome to the Miami Dolphins Nick Saba- wait a minute
How often do college coaches make the jump to MLB? I honestly can’t think of the last coach to do so.
Couldn’t they find a happier picture of him?
They want to make Drew Gilbert a fucking STAR
Old Dansby Swanson
Any way I can down vote this 100 times as a vol fan?
Buster be like well I can’t hire myself…..or can I?….no I can’t….but…
The Giants see the Dodgers winning with Dave Roberts, so they figure anyone can do this job.
I feel like Gabe Kapler’s quirkiness and outside-the-box thinking was too much for most people. Good luck with this one!
He looks exhausted lol
Sounds like an owner of a Italian restaurant on Fishermans Wharf, next to Alioto‘s and caddy-corner to Colovito‘s
We will see how far his schtick works with professional mlb players and not college kids
