Giants taking bold risk to combat Dodgers' dominance with rumored managerial choice

The tables have turned on the San Francisco Giants in recent years, and not for the best. With their bitter rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers four wins away from a second-straight World Series title, and with the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks having leapfrogged the Giants in competitive merit of late, San Fran's three championships between 2010 and 2014 feel like relics of a past age.

The managerial architect of that bygone dynasty (Bruce Bochy) has long departed, and he's even won a World Series with an entirely separate franchise since then.

With the exception of a 2021 divisional crown, the Giants have been on the outside of contention looking in for a decade now, and it's Buster Posey's job as San Francisco's president of baseball operations to change that.

Following a 2025 season in which Posey made a win-now splash by trading for Rafael Devers, he and San Fran's front office fired manager Bob Melvin after the Giants failed to make the playoffs (they did finish above the D-Backs in the NL West, it should be noted).

Even with the Padres going through their own manager fallout, the Giants know that 2026 won't be any easier, as the Dodgers' dynasty looks far from over. Maybe this is why San Francisco is thinking outside the box as they look for a new clubhouse leader.

Giants are reportedly pursuing Tony Vitello as their top manager candidate

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Saturday that the Giants were close to making Tennessee Volunteers manager Tony Vitello the club's next manager.

Passan called Vitello the "top target" for San Francisco and said that a decision was expected in 24 to 72 hours, which, dated from Passan's reporting, extends to approximately 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 21.

What makes the news so surprising is that Vitello has absolutely no MLB experience.

What Vitello does have is a sparking resumé at the college level. Vitello excelled as an assistant coach at the college level from 2003 to 2017, earning a reputation as an elite recruiter and developer of MLB talent during stints at Missouri, TCU, and Arkansas.

Vitello was hired as Tennessee's head coach in 2018 and has since transformed the Vols into a powerhouse, winning two SEC titles (2022, 2024) and a College World Series in 2024. Vitello has tallied a 341–131 record at Tennessee and earned multiple Coach of the Year accolades.

Vitello's next stop might be San Francisco. Posey clearly values Vitello's ability to develop young talent and his in-game instincts that have led to championship baseball at the college level.

In hiring Vitello, the Giants would be bringing aboard a manager who represents, in some ways, the polar opposite of Dodgers' Dave Roberts, who has accomplished virtually everything there is to accomplish at the big-league level.

Maybe the Giants are onto something. To attempt to best the Dodgers at their own game would be a mistake. It will take a beast of a different sort to compete with LA for the rest of the 2020s, and San Francisco believes Vitello could be the start of something new.