TRUTH REVEALED: WHY Tony Vitello CHOSE to LEAVE Tennessee for the GIANTS

TRUTH REVEALED: WHY Tony Vitello CHOSE to LEAVE Tennessee for the GIANTS

Tony Vitello’s message to V Nation, the Giants and their player priorities, and the timeline of the upcoming events as well as logistics. It’s all coming up on Locked on Giants. You are Locked On Giants, your daily San Francisco Giants podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to Locked On Giants, part of the Locked On podcast network where it’s your team every single day. My name is Al Styles. On the show, we provide daily episodes Monday through Friday talking about the San Francisco Giants in a way that combines passion, analytics with the eye test and a little bit of fun. I’m from the Bay Area, but I live in Sacramento now and I host a show at Sacktown Sports 11:40 as well, the Allen Style Show 10 a.m. 2 p.m. Be sure to check that out. And IMC Sacramento Rivercast games. All in all, I’m lucky enough to cover a team I’ve been a fan of all my life. Today we break down Tony Vital’s statement to the Tennessee Volunteers. We talk about the Giants and how they could prioritize their needs this off season and some timelines and logistics for what is next for the organization. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. So, the big news to end the week last week was in addition to obviously Tony Vitello making his way to the San Francisco Giants, Tony Vitello did give a statement to V Nation. So, I have the first bit of it and then I’ve kind of summarized what he had to say. I just think it’s interesting from the Giants perspective and Giants fans perspective just to know the type of guy he is, the type of impact that he made on that community and how he wanted to go out. Now, we’ll get into the logistics a little bit later, but October 30th, so Thursday, that’s when we will hear from Tony Vitello and get introduced to him there at Oracle Park on King Street. So, this is what he had to say. Uh, quote, “By now, you all know I officially accepted a position to babysit Drew Gilbert.” Nicely done there. Normally, I don’t read to y’all, but hopefully I can just get through some notes without any tears. There’s been a lot. Had to watch uh some Leanne Morgan to stop here and there a few different times, but here we are. I just wanted to kind of get some things out there and not have any regrets. So, that’s why I wrote some notes down. First off, just people saying bye and everything like that. I’m not going anywhere. So, real estate people, quit texting me. I’ll figure out what I want to do. But whether it’s football games, basketball games, supporting these guys in some form or fashion, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t know if this will get me in trouble, but in my mind, a goal is to come back to Tennessee in some capacity, whether it’s part-time living or some other job way down the road, or maybe I go back to Nashville and become a country singer or something like that. But that’s something that stuck out in my head because obviously I feel like this was a great place for me. I want to stop there and then I have again the breakdown of all the other stuff that he said. I did think I’m not trying to do the thing because I know when you leave and you’re emotional, you say stuff, but I did find it just a smidge smidge interesting and I get it. He’s kind of placating a little bit to the home base. It’s tough because he’s leaving. I did find it just a smidge interesting that he said the goal is to come back. Obviously that could be what 10 years down the road. He’s only 47, 10 years and three World Series later. But you know, you find yourself in and he didn’t say I’m going to come back and coach, he said in some capacity. But yeah, I I definitely and I and I know Tony Vitello can read the room. definitely would not suggest to say anything like that for the intro presser and I don’t think he will but I I did find it and he said it himself I might get in trouble for this but in that moment I you know nobody is going to get in trouble. I just thought it was interesting because it was so soon in what he had to say and you know probably a lot of different emotions going on there. I did I did at least raise my my eyebrow, but you know, he’s not going to be the manager forever. And like I said, that could be 20 years from now. At 67, he could go back to to old Rocky Top and and hang out. So, yeah, it it made me go, “Oh, okay.” You know, just making sure that you want to stay connected. But yeah, I didn’t as far as getting in trouble, I don’t think he’ll get in trouble or anything like that for saying he wants to come back in some capacity. Now, if he had said, “I want to come back and coach these guys again at some point,” then that that might have been might have been a little bit different. Then they might have said, “All right, well, it’s uh, you know, can we can we get can we get you to San Francisco before you talk about leaving San Francisco?” So, uh, no harm, no foul on my on my side, but I am pretty sure some people out there might feel some type of way. So, I have some other kind of takeaways from what he said. He called his move to the Giants a quote selfish decision, acknowledging that it was driven by personal reasons and not a reflection on Tennessee or the program’s future. He expressed deep gratitude to the volunteers community, saying that if his last day on campus as an employee or wearing orange was truly his last, the fans presence made it very, very special. He clarified his decision came after serious discussions with his assistant coaches and players. He emphasized that he needed their support and wanted to make a choice he felt right about. Only after he felt his boxes were checked did he decide. You know that that’s fascinating too because I don’t know how much the players did know. Hey guys, I’m thinking about leaving you. What do you think? or you know that Saturday when everything got out. I wonder if there was a conversation if everybody remembers 72 hours came and went. I do wonder if that extra day and I’ve been on record saying I think that it got out a smidge early which is what happens nowadays but that 72 hours it took longer than that because I think he maybe didn’t believe it was going to get out that Saturday when it did got get out and maybe a little bit later. But maybe that was that whole uh what was it? Practice gate or scrimmage gate when everybody said, “Well, he’s here. Is he is he crying? Is he hugging people? What’s going on?” Maybe that’s where he had the conversation with them and took that extra day, you know, just to get their thoughts on everything. That’s possible. So, you know, that is that that would make more sense. He made it clear his attachment to Tennessee remains strong, calling himself revolved for life. I mean, in my opinion, I’m looking at this like a a situation that they’ve created that they’ve already kind of had because the Giants have a ton of former Volunteers players in their system already, but it’s a pipeline now, right? Hey, you got a Tennessee now. Obviously, you can you can draft whoever you want other teams, but that connection and guys that are already in the league, you know, that there’s Christian Moore in in LA, right, or in Anaheim with the Angels, there’s a a there’s outfielder, he’s a stud, his name escapes me now on the Rockies, right? There are a lot of guys floating around. So, if some of these guys end up popping and end up, you know, really doing some things in the league, you never know, free agency and stuff like that. So, I definitely think it does matter. In short, while Bello is stepping away into a new chapter with the Giants, he definitely wanted to make it clear how meaningful Tennessee was to him, how much he valued the relationships and how tough the decision was. You know, whenever you have these decisions, could be any type of breakup, right, or leaving any type of job, you want the person you’re leaving or you want the job to leave. I mean, a lot of jobs just say, “Okay, see you later.” But you want them to know how difficult it was. And it might not make them feel better, but I think in some ways it does. Hey, you know, we’ve we’ve had a good run, but at this point in time, I think I got to do what’s best for me and move on to whatever whatever that is in life. So, I would say good stuff to Tony Vitello. He knew what he had to do. I can’t wait to hear him on the 30th and, you know, see what he has cooked up for the Giants fans and the Giants side of it. But just wanted to give you a little breakdown of all that because that came out uh right on Friday as I had released the last episode. So in case you missed it and I know everybody saw the Drew Gilbert quote, but wanted to go a little bit deeper into what he had to say. On the other side, let’s discuss prioritizing the Giants needs. We know they have a couple, but which one should be number one, number two, and number three? Don’t move. More locked on Giants coming up. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fando.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Life is about prioritization. And my mother taught me this at a young age and it still follows me now with with my own kids and hey uh do we need to give somebody a bath or do they need to get their teeth brushed or who needs to eat? Prioritizing is perfect as well as obviously doing stuff in your personal life outside of them and you’re trying to make sure that everything makes sense. Prioritizing makes a lot of sense and prioritizing is very important and that’s where the Giants are right now. They need to prioritize and there are a lot of needs that the Giants have. Some are larger than other. I would say the main need the main needs for me that we’re going to prioritize is you need another bat. That goes without being said. You need at least one more bat. You need at least one more starting pitcher. You need I would say a couple of bullpen arms. So that’s kind of a little bit harder to to prioritize the same way. And from a position player standpoint, the outfield needs to improve, right? The outfield needs to improve. So if you use it as a ven diagram and you are seeing where the overlap is, and I don’t know that Tony Bella is going to like this very much, I would say that based on what happened from a position player standpoint, it would probably be right field for me. And I know, look, I see everybody and you know, I appreciate all the comments. A lot of people want to upgrade on Elliot Ramos. I feel you on that. I would have to see, and you know, I’m always talking and trying to figure out what is going on throughout the league, what Elliot Ramos’s value is. I I’ve said before, I mean, you could do a top 30, maybe a couple top 30s and Elliot Ramos for a Hunter Green situation. I would be open to that, don’t get me wrong, because we’re about to talk about another priority that the Giants have. The the funny thing is, as I say, they need another bat, and I’m willing to move off of a bat. That’s because, and I’ve said it, ad nauseium, when it comes to Elliot Ramos and what he brings to the table and what his bat is. Look, he had, you know, 20 bombs, man. I mean, that’s nothing to to sneeze at. I I’m just trying to figure out where it fits and if what he did I if put it to you like this, you had Willie Adams hit 30. You had Elliot Ramos hit 20 and they missed the playoffs to the lowly Reds. No disrespect to the Reds, but the Reds didn’t even think they were going to be in the playoffs. So, what it tells me is that I’m not sure, and I’ve actually never said this out loud, and I don’t mean it in a negative way, even though it’s going to sound like it. Elliot Ramos is hitting as a as a as a total in addition to everything else that he brings to the table. It’s just not it’s not a part of winning baseball. And that’s not really Elliot Ramos’s fault. It can be, but not on this Giants team. Not on this past season, cuz we just saw it. So, if you can move off of Elliot Ramos and even if there’s somebody that doesn’t hit as well to get a pitcher or to get something that makes more sense for this team, then you have to do it. And I know I said all I started this by saying I’m not trying to move Elliot Ramos and here we are. I understand what everybody is saying. With all that being said, he’s not number one on my priority list to move. Uh now, if he helps you acquire something else, then cool. Number one on my priority list, and I guess we can separate this because starting pitching is obviously the most important. Pitching wins championships, defense wins championships. We know that from the evenar championships, all three of them. But if we were to separate that, I would say it has to be right field. Uh for a couple reasons. Number one, you are just not very good defensively in the outfield. I’m not trying to get Jung-H Julie fans mad at me again. So, I’m going to leave it and Jung Hulie and can say and center. That’s fine. Okay, it’s Monday. I don’t want anybody commenting what whatever hitting me up on on Instagram or Twitter and follow me at the styles with an I. I’m not jungly. Today is not the day. Now, I’m going to make another group of people mad at me because who I do want to improve on, it’s not just him. It’s a position, but it would be right field. And the reason I’m prioritizing right field over left and over second is because at least in those two other spots, you know, those guys can hit, right? If you’re going to give up some defense, at least Elliot Ramos can hit. So, if you don’t end up moving him for a starting pitcher or whoever, you know, he can hit big league pitching. And hitting big league pitching is right there. You might not want to admit it, but hitting 20 bombs at the big league level for how much people do want to bag on Elliot Ramos, that’s really important and that’s not that easy to come by, especially on the Giants. We should all know that. So, it can’t be left field. it can’t be second base to me because I thought Casey Schmidt played really well to end the season and I just think he deserves that Elliot Ramos year to see if okay are you really going to be the guy for us right they couldn’t find someone uh they had some issues locking that down you had Tyler Fitzgerald who you know kind of looked like a Jeremy Lynn situation where he cooled off and and couldn’t figure it out and they were just rotating different second baseman until Casey said, “Hey, I’ll take care of business and get this thing done.” So, to me, Casey Schmidt has earned at least a go there at second base, and it’s something you can come back to. This is just to start the season. My priority list is start the season. This could always turn into, hey, Casey Schmidt, you know, you go out, you get your right fielder. Hey, Casey Schmidt’s not figuring it out, whatever it is, or it’s just not enough. Or you just want to improve. Maybe it’s just, hey, we we think we can find somebody that can be even better than Casey. and you make a trade, right? That that is always possible uh in in baseball. So, this is just for the beginning of the season priority list, I would say. And again, removing the starting pitcher conversation because that’s obvious how important that is. It have to be right field. It would have to be right field because you cannot have a hole at right field and uh no disrespect to Patrick Bailey kind of a hole at the catcher position as well and you have streaky hitters that you’re actually paying big money to. So you cannot combine all those things. If you were making a gumbo that is a 500 gumbo if I’ve ever heard one that tastes like it’s a little bland. It’s a it needs a little salt. It needs a little Cajun seasoning, whatever it is. So, to me, you just can’t afford to go into the season. Now, maybe they deem second base is more important than right field or left field, they’re, you know, they’re okay moving on from Elliot Ramos, but from the outside looking in, that gave you the least offensively in an offensive position. Let’s think about that as well. right field. It’s not as if you’re, you know, your center fielder or your shorts stop or your catcher. It’s not as if it’s one of those positions that’s struggling, right? And you say, “Okay, well, it’s a premium a premium spot defensively.” So, it’s not great, but it is what it is. Right field, that is four hitters. And I know the right field at Oracle Park is this a difficult right field to play. I get all that, but it’s right field, not center. It’s not even second base, third base. It’s not even first base, right? First base, you got to you stretch and scoop and do all this stuff. It’s not even first base. So, you cannot have an offensive hole at right field. You can’t do it. You cannot do it. I I would say right field is a little tougher than left field, don’t get me wrong, but at least you’re getting hitting from left field. You’re not getting anything from right field. So to me, that is the number one priority. If we’re removing the starting pitchers, you cannot let right field just be a hole. There are too many big bopper outfielders out there and some that you can get at a good price. Too many out there to just sit there and run a carousel of guys that you’re not really sure if they’re going to be in the league, you know, for the next five years. I I just don’t think the Giants and you know what the more important piece of this is the Giants just don’t have the time. If this was a bad Giants team that had a rookie at shortstop or a thirdyear guy at shortstop, you’re let’s say this. If you weren’t paying the shortstop and you weren’t paying the third baseman and you weren’t paying the center fielder and you weren’t paying the first baseman and you were more so in a rebuild period, then then let them all swing. I don’t care. That’s what we said a couple years ago when they weren’t winning. Hey, get the kids in and see what happens. But you have too many big time guys and Logan Webb, that’s a guy we don’t talk about. Logan Webb just sitting there just I don’t want to say wasting away, but Logan Webb is just pitching every single season, balling out for a team that can’t make the playoffs and he ain’t getting any younger. He’s about to hit 30. So, I just don’t think you have the time to sit there and let somebody figure it out. And I don’t think you have a ton of time at second base either, but at least Casey Schmidt showed you a little something. He was your everyday guy. They don’t have an everyday right fielder. And I don’t know that in the West, every position matters. Everything matters. So, I would say right field is number one for me. One more segment with you. Let’s get into some of the logistics and timelines when it comes to Tony Vitello and what’s next for the San Francisco Giants. More lockdown Giants. Don’t move. The NFL season is back and honestly, there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can be a hassle. Between cues, login screens, and prices jumping at checkout, it’s frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to the fans. Game time is fast, easy, and backed by the Game Time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included, so the price you see is the price you pay. I pulled up Game Time and in just a couple tabs, I saw amazing deals. I’m talking about your favorite NFL games as low as $100. The app made it super simple. I could even see the exact view from my seat before buying. Honestly, it’s faster, cheaper, and less stressful than any other way I’ve bought tickets. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code L O C K D O N ML LB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go download game time today. One more segment with you. Hope everyone had a good weekend and we are avoiding a case of the Mondays as we break down all things San Francisco Giants. So, just wanted to give some updates on logistics and timelines and some really great notes from Shaina Rubin of the SF Chronicle just on how this uh assistant coach search may go. So, number one, I said it earlier in the show, but if anybody was curious, October 30th is the press conference. So, October 30th is when we will see Tony Vitello in the building. we will get to feel his aura, if you will, as a kid say, and get a better a better feel for who he is, why Buster was in love with him so quickly, and what his plan is. Obviously, he’s not going to get into the the nooks and crannies of everything, but what his plan is, what his philosophy is, and I’m really excited to hear from him on the 30th, the day before Halloween, black and orange. So, it all kind of lines up for the Giants there. So, that is the the first thing and I guess next on the docket. As far as the other coaches, that should happen fairly soon in the in the coming weeks. This is what I wanted to kind of read from Shaina Rubin’s article on SF Chronicle. Be sure to check that out before he’s formally introduced as the Giants manager on Thursday. Vital is assuredly spending plenty of hours on the phone putting together ideas and names of coaches he’s most comfortable with. Those in his circle of trust who might want to follow him to San Francisco. If Vitello wants to pull from his staff at University of Tennessee, he’ll have to sell associates who may have families rooted in Knoxville on leaving a less taxing college schedule for the 162 game MLB grind. There are also coaches who are close to Vitella who have rich resume in professional baseball. Jacece Tingler who manages the San Diego Padres’s and is currently the bench coach in Minnesota. It’s always Minnesota is one of them. But Vitello won’t be calling every shot. Deciding who fills out the major league coaching staff will be a collaborative effort with the Giants for an office. And it’s likely Giants decision makers will prefer to fill the dugout with professional coaching experience to help navigate his first foray into the pro. So that’s from Shaina Rubin. Great stuff as always. I love getting caught up in everything she has to say. And I think all of that makes sense as far as the the timeline and where the Giants are trying to go and what they’re trying to do. One note that did stick out to me is Vitello trying to pull some of his guys from Tennessee. Yeah. I mean, you’re talking about a 60game schedule. We we discussed it a little bit last week. 60 game schedule games on the weekends, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, one midweek games, sometimes two midweek games. I think the biggest thing in my opinion, we knew Vitello, not the pocket watch, but we knew Vitello was making a pretty penny at Tennessee. I don’t know if that also trickled down to his coaches because he really wanted to make this stretch. It wasn’t as much about money because he was already the second highest paid uh college coach. It wasn’t much it wasn’t that much about money. He was making more than some MLB coaches. But when it comes to the assistant coaches, maybe, just maybe, that’s where the money aspect may come into play more. If they weren’t making as much as assistant coaches at Tennessee, which again, I have to I have to kind of dive deeper into it. Maybe going to and just being able to say, I’m a Major League Baseball assistant coach now versus I’m a college assistant coach. Maybe the juice is worth the squeeze there for some of these guys. But it’s not going to be a lot. I think it’s going to be uh a healthy medium of guys that Buster feels or the organization feels would be good for the Giants to bring in. And then you have Vital, hey, you have one or two right-hand men that you want to bring in and you feel comfortable uh to help make you make this transition to make it more comfortable for you. When I went to Temple, I had a buddy who was a year older than me. So, he was already at Temple. So, he was from the Bay. He was from San Carlos. So when I got out there, I already knew who he was. There was also a dude from Hawaii, but we had played each other prior to being at Temple. So that helped make me feel more comfortable. I actually had a uncle out there as well in Philly. So it made me feel more comfortable. Even though I wasn’t from Philadelphia, I’m obviously from the Bay. So being able to pull on the strings of different guys out there. Hey, I’m going to, you know, I decided in part to go to temple because I knew, hey, well, I at least I have a guy out there and it will make me feel more comfortable versus some of the other places where I would just be by myself. And I do feel, the reason I bring that up is because I feel that being comfortable definitely matters when it comes to performing, right? If you are completely uncom unc uncomfortable, and we’ve heard this before, these guys hate mid-season trades because they’re humans. They’re very rich humans, but they’re humans. So, all of these things are kind of in the same category where it’s being able to feel comfortable in a situation and that helps you perform at the highest level. I would imagine a couple, you know, a couple weeks from now, maybe even a week or so, once he gets introduced, we’ll start to hear some names come out. I have a couple, again, the Jace Tinglers of the world that Shannon Rubin brought up, but there are definitely some names floating around. There are definitely some kind of heavy hitters, if you will, from a relatively speaking, from a assistant coach point of view. And I think that Giants fans will be happy with what the what the Giants are cooking, what they’re putting together. And again, that hybrid culture of college and of course, you’re in the show now. You’re in the big league. So, I think it’s great stuff. Uh, we will talk to you tomorrow. Thank you for listening and watching Locked on Giants. Been a lot of good interaction these days. So, I really do appreciate it. We will get back to Look, man, there’s Bryce Harper talk to get into that’s coming up. There’s a lot obviously the starting pitcher. So, we are just getting started in this off season. The the manager is settled. That means that trade trade candidates and free agent candidates, we are right around the corner and you know, I cannot wait for all of that. Thank you for making locked on Giants your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the all night locked on MLB game night. every game, every night until a World Series champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB Game Night on Locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. We will talk to you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Tony Vitello’s move from Tennessee to the San Francisco Giants is officially real — and this episode breaks it all down. From his emotional farewell message to Vol Nation to what’s next in San Francisco, we unpack every angle of Vitello’s transition from college powerhouse to MLB manager. The show explores the heart behind his decision to leave, the logistics of his upcoming October 30th press conference, and the early details of his staff-building process alongside Buster Posey and the Giants front office.

We also look ahead — analyzing what this means for San Francisco’s roster and farm system, which positions they must prioritize this offseason (spoiler: starting pitching tops the list), and how Vitello’s culture-first approach could reshape the identity of the organization from the clubhouse to the minors.

This isn’t just another hire — it’s a full-on culture shift, and the countdown to Vitello’s MLB debut has already begun.

0:00 Vitello’s message to Vol Nation
9:40 Giants Player Priorities
20:54 Timelines & Logistics

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