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ORLANDO, Fla. – Tony Vitello’s first spring training as manager of the Giants is expected to be detoured with players coming and going.
Not exactly a perfect way for the new manager to get to know his roster and his players’ strengths and weaknesses.
Such is life with the World Baseball Classic, the international tournament that crops up every few years and draws from all the Major League Baseball teams.
Several players from the Giants are expected to depart training camp to perform for an extensive list of countries, but Vitello said Tuesday at the winter meetings that he fully embraces the WBC despite the drawbacks.
“I think the WBC’s phenomenal,” Vitello said. “It’s one of the more fun sporting events I’ve ever witnessed. There’s pros and cons. I’m all for it, and I think the fallout is kind of worth the squeeze.”
WBC managers and GMs were made available to the media Tuesday and shared intel on their ongoing roster construction. Michael Hill, Team USA’s GM, remained encouraged Giants ace Logan Webb will be aboard. Matt Chapman also is in the conversation.
Other players who are either expected to play in the WBC or are awaiting confirmation include Jung Hoo Lee (South Korea), Willy Adames and Rafael Devers (Dominican Republic), Heliot Ramos (Puerto Rico), Kai-Wei Teng (Taiwan), and José Buttó (Venezuela).
Former Giants manager Dusty Baker is involved, too. He’s managing Team Nicaragua and, naturally, was available to discuss all subjects, from Nicaragua’s chances to Vitello’s future in San Francisco to Jeff Kent getting elected to the Hall of Fame to Barry Bonds getting snubbed again.
“How do you not have Barry or the hit king, Pete (Rose), in the Hall of Fame?” he asked. “I don’t have a vote. When you look at Jeff, Jeff was our clutch man. When you needed that knock, Jeff was a clutch man. That was his job. And a lot of those clutch hits were with Barry on base.”
As a player, Buster Posey loved participating in the WBC; he and another former Giant, Brandon Crawford, helped Team USA win the tournament in 2017. But as president of baseball operations, Posey has concerns. Especially involving pitchers who are forced to escalate their throwing programs much earlier than normal to be ready for tourney play.
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That the 29-year-old Webb led the National League in innings the past three seasons means he’s a bastion of durability and health, and Posey and the Giants want that to continue. Like any other baseball operations boss, Posey will engage in deep discussions with WBC officials about usage to protect his players.
“I think ideally, the perfect-case scenario for some of these pitchers that are asked to do it, and me being somewhat selfish, is you hope that they have an opportunity later in their career,” added Posey, referencing Adam Wainwright and Clayton Kershaw from the 2023 WBC. “It is a great event, but we’ve also seen over the years that it can derail some pitchers just because there’s no way to replicate getting yourself ready for essentially a playoff baseball atmosphere in early March. It’s just impossible.”
It’s not as if the Giants can afford to lose Webb for any amount of time. The undisputed ace is one of just three penciled-in starters, along with Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp, and Posey’s focus at the winter meetings is seeking new blood to fill out the rotation.
A year ago at this time, Posey was securing a seven-year deal with Adames, but he wouldn’t say whether he thought he’d be adding a player before the end of the winter meetings. Tuesday, a couple of National League powerhouses beefed up with the rival Dodgers snagging closer Edwin Diaz (three years, $69 million) and the Phillies bringing back designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (five years, $150 million).
The Giants signed Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million contract last December. | Source: (Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images)
Meantime, Giants fans are hoping their team gets involved, too. Monday, Posey suggested ownership could “at least listen” if he pushes to sign an elite free agent, which was a comfort to fans considering it was believed the team wouldn’t spend big, based in part on chairman Greg Johnson’s comments to The Standard downplaying $100 million contracts for pitchers.
Tuesday, agent Scott Boras responded.
“Greg’s competitive,” Boras said. “You have a Goliath in your division (the Dodgers), with multiple starting pitchers who missed over half the year, and you understand the team that already won is going to get better. So you have to really make sure you have the innings and components to allow for just the normal improvement of the Dodgers and other teams that are adding big-time starters.
“Fortunately, the pitching talent is available to shore up that level of depth needed.”
That’s Boras’ pitch, and he has the pitchers to back it up. Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez, and Zac Gallen. The other high-end starter is Framber Valdez.
“When you have that opportunity in the free agent market,” Boras said, “the talent ebb and flow is there for you to take an opportunity to really benefit your club for now and in the future.”
No matter what direction Posey goes in free agency, he’s determined to keep his young starters in the hunt. That includes Carson Whisenhunt, Hayden Birdsong, Blade Tidwell, Trevor McDonald, and Teng.
“I think if we got to the point where that group’s competing for the fifth spot, then that’s where we’ll be,” Posey said. “You get as much pitching as you can. It’s just going to be somewhat dependent on what our options are, cost-wise, whether it’s free agency or through the trade route.”
Vitello met the national media for the first time since the Giants hired him and mostly took questions about making the historic transition from college ball.
Tony Vitello is jumping directly to MLB after coaching at the University of Tennessee. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
Baker, who serves as a club adviser, is like most folks in the industry, eager to see how the Vitello hire plays out.
“That was a gamble, so to speak, a calculated gamble,” Baker said. “All I can tell you is you’ve got to give him a chance, and you’ve got to give him more than one year. … We’ll see. Everybody can speculate everything you want. You’ve got to wait until you get to the ballgames, and we can’t speed up that process or judge that process until a period of time. Even a few games is not enough. Everybody wants answers right now. Sometimes you don’t have them.”
Giants nearly win lottery, get No. 4 pick
The Giants haven’t made roster upgrades at the winter meetings, but there have been plenty of reasons to celebrate. The Kent Hall of Fame news, for example.
Also, the Giants beat the odds in Tuesday’s draft lottery and walked away with the No. 4 overall pick in 2026 – a big deal for a team that finished in the middle of the pack at 81-81. It’s the third time the Giants will get a top five pick since Posey was taken No. 5 in 2008. Joey Bart was the No. 2 pick in 2018.
There was some fun internal news as well. Public relations man Matt Chisholm won the Robert O. Fishel Award for PR excellence, and Brad Grems and Gavin Cuddle were named clubhouse managers of the year.
A party would break out with one more award. The Hall of Fame will announce on Wednesday the winner of the Ford C. Frick award, and Duane Kuiper is among 10 broadcasters on the ballot.