by
Greek Giant
The Giants need a Manager. Ever since Bob Melvin was fired two days ago there has been speculation about who his replacement will be. Buster Posey was asked this very question and astutely declined to comment other than to say he “had a few names in mind.” This will be one of the first big tests of Posey’s new career as President of Baseball Operations, a fancy way of saying “General Manager”. The trend in baseball is to do away with old-school guys and go for young blood for a variety of reasons. I won’t get into that idea and its benefits/shortcomings but suffice it to say that if we know Buster Posey he will hire a Manager who handles a pitching staff well and emphasizes fundamentals; believes in the importance of pitching and strong defensive play.
Like you I have read a quite a bit of Internet chatter about potential candidates and how the Giants let Stephen Vogt get away, as if Vogt was the greatest Manager since… well Bruce Bochy! Let’s pump the brakes on the Vogt hype for a moment and look back at yesterday’s Wild Card Game between the Guardians and Tigers. Vogt played a right fielder and a second baseman who between them had a combined 45 games at their positions and both made critical errors, with each miscue coming on a routine play and each miscue leading to a run. Giving away runs in the postseason, especially when facing Tarik Skubal is pure folly and it cost the Guardians the game, and perhaps the season. What happened next? Well, the Tigers beat Cleveland 2-1. I am not condemning a Manager for one bad move, but two? In a postseason game? No thanks. No more “smartest guys in the room” for the Giants!
The Candidates
Here is a partial list of candidates my sources on the street tell me Buster may consider for the New Giants Manager position:
- Skip Schumacher
- Bruce Bochy
- Mark Hallberg
- Nick Hundley
- Craig Albernaz
- Mark DeRosa
- Tony Vitello
Let’s start with Bochy. NOPE. He just left the Rangers once his contract expired and he is too old to Manage the Giants this go round. It’s time for new energy, a younger Manager and someone who is a bit more adept at handling the egos and attitudes of today’s Major Leaguer. I love Bochy but at 70 years old he is not the guy for the Giants at this time. It will not be him.
Skip Schumacher was considered to be Bochy’s heir apparent in Texas and works there as an advisor after a stint with the Marlins. It’s not clear if Posey has interest in him and I am not sure why Schumacher’s name keeps coming up so I am agnostic on this one.
Mark Hallberg is a Giants insider and current first base coach and also very highly-regarded in the Giants organization. He has a strong rapport with Buster so that could be interesting. Hiring from within here might be a good move or it might be too safe, depending on your thinking.
Nick Hundley, former Giant catcher, and currently employed by the Rangers, he spent 10.5 of his 12 major league seasons in the division, including 2017 and 2018 when he played for the Giants as Posey’s backup. I am not sure why he is getting buzz but this is all scuttlebut at the organizational level within MLB that fans are rarely privy to.
Craig Albernaz was the bullpen and catching coach for the Giants from 2019-23, a span that covers the end of Posey’s playing career as well as the start of current catcher Patrick Bailey’s. Albernaz, 42, racked up two years of dugout experience in the well-respected Cleveland organization, as Stephen Vogt’s bench coach in 2024 and then “associate manager” this season, a nice bit of title inflation that kept him in Cleveland. Albernaz is beloved by three MLB departments in Tampa Bay, Cleveland and San Francisco. He might. be the front runner.
Mark DeRosa has received a great deal of mention as a potential Giants Manager but I don’t see that happening. He has been out of baseball too long working at the MLB Network.
There has been talk of darkhorse, outside-the-box selections like a University baseball coach (Tony Vitello at the University of Tennessee) or Buster Posey himself. We shall see. I am sure Posey will consider how the new Manager will fit into Giants culture, which counts. Just ask the front office after the previous regime.
The Questions
Here are the questions I would ask were I interviewing candidates:
- How is managing a game different in the postseason as compared to the regular season?
- What would your lineup be for the Giants if there was a game tonight? (It’s a trick question)
- How committed are you to a stable line up versus a line up made up for matchups?
- How much would you and your staff emphasize fundamentals in baserunning, defense, and hitting in your daily practice?
- What form would this emphasis take?
- Do you believe in disciplining players? If so, how?
- What would you have done differently from Bob Melvin during the team’s terrible home losing streak this past summer?
- What are the biggest weaknesses of this current Giants roster?
- What are the biggest strengths of this current Giants roster?
- What does the history and the culture of San Francisco Giants baseball mean to you and how would it be part of your work as Manager?
- What is the most important quality for a Manager in today’s game?
- Where do the Giants stand in relation to the Padres and Dodgers for competing for the NL West Division Championship and the World Series?
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