SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The proving ground lifted its curtain on a sunny Tuesday morning at Scottsdale Stadium, where Tony Vitello, the newest and perhaps the least orthodox manager in San Francisco Giants history, appeared in the dugout at 20 minutes past 9 a.m., took a seat on the aluminum bench, pulled at the placket of the bright orange jersey he wore under his sweatshirt — the first pro uniform he’s worn to work in his baseball life — and stiffened up a touch as a dozen reporters formed a tight semicircle around him.

This was not the University of Tennessee, where media engagements were mostly held in a sterile news conference room, where the coach sat at a raised platform and where the feng shui denoted a clear hierarchy. Gone were the physical barriers and the negative space. Back in Knoxville, Vitello was known for holding court with reporters, with recruits, with parents, with fans. The chambers are a little more intimate — and perhaps a little less comfortable — in a major-league dugout.

“I don’t think I’ve ever sat down, like, campfire approach,” Vitello said.

Vitello acknowledged he was 20 minutes late because he “did some rambling” in his meeting with pitchers and catchers before the team’s first workout. He was asked about his remarks to the team. He was asked what rookie slugger Bryce Eldridge must show this spring to make the opening day roster. He spread cheer when asked about his amoebic and potentially anemic bullpen, saying, “I really like when there’s opportunity and competition. On the pitching side, if you’re hungry for a job or hungry for innings or want to improve your role, it’s got to be as good of a group in Major League Baseball as there is.”

And when Vitello was asked about Luis Arraez, the three-time batting champion who was so determined to prove he can remain an everyday second baseman that he turned down at least one multiyear offer to sign a one-year contract, the Giants’ new manager responded with a touch of self-awareness.

“We got a lot of people that need to prove something to some folks,” Vitello said. “So he’s a good fit.”

Luis Arráez wasted no time getting on the field in the Orange & Black pic.twitter.com/KPdmm2vrPj

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) February 10, 2026

Vitello was not asked about the man he is replacing. Fired managers tend to become afterthoughts. So it might slip that Vitello is taking over for a skipper who was a three-time Manager of the Year Award winner, who ranks 20th all-time with 1,678 regular-season victories, who served for 22 seasons in a position that comes with heated seats as standard equipment and who was dismissed with a year on his contract because finishing .500 wasn’t good enough.

For Matt Chapman, though, the Giants’ Gold Glove third baseman and unofficial captain, Bob Melvin remains very much on his mind.

“I’ve talked to Bob a handful of times this offseason,” said Chapman, speaking about Melvin on Tuesday for the first time since the manager’s dismissal in September. “I mean, I wasn’t surprised, just because I understand the nature of the business, and when you don’t win, things change. I think he saw it coming. When you’re not playing well and drop out of the standings like we did, somebody’s got to take the fall. And unfortunately, that’s the manager a lot of times. They can’t just fire our whole team. So it kind of had to happen, unfortunately, just because of the way things ended, maybe.”

Giants president Buster Posey pivoted to a manager with a different background and temperament, hiring a college boat rocker to replace Melvin’s steady hand on the wheel. The immediate challenge for Vitello is to cultivate buy-in among major-league players. It might be true that the game is converging at the college and pro levels, but the personnel Vitello will manage are in entirely different stations of life — players who make millions and have mortgages and kids and who might not speak English as a first language, or at all.

For Vitello, the buy-in process had to start with Chapman. The rest of the Giants take their cues from their third baseman. He organizes team dinners and postgame cellies. Last season, the Giants were 38-28 when Chapman tore ligaments in his hand June 8, and they spiraled back toward .500 while he was on the injured list.

The touchy part: Vitello had to gain acceptance from a star player while replacing his mentor. Melvin was Chapman’s manager for his first five major-league seasons with the Athletics. They are so close that when Posey informed Melvin that he was being relieved of duties, a decision he had discussed with just two other members of his front office, his next call to widen the circle was to Chapman.

“Because I knew that they went back so far, and I didn’t want him to see it anywhere else,” Posey said. “Just to show him the respect, because I knew their relationship was important.”

After Posey hired Melvin’s successor, Chapman knew what Vitello needed to hear.

“I told Tony that right away,” Chapman said. “I was like, ‘I love BoMel. I’ve been with him for a long time. But I understand the business. I understand baseball. And I’m all in on the Giants. I want to win. And I’m here to help. Whatever I can do to help you and the team, I’m all in.’”

Even if the Giants are replacing his mentor with someone who has no professional experience?

“It didn’t bother me,” Chapman said. “I know a lot of people are making jokes about a college coach and things like that, but I trust Buster. I’m sure he interviewed him, and during that process, was like, ‘You know what? This guy seems like the right fit for what we’re looking for.’ And all the guys that we have in this locker room from Tennessee love him. Everybody that’s ever called me about him loves the guy and only has great things to say about him. So that excited me.”

Chapman spent plenty of time on the phone with Vitello over the past couple of months, providing as much background information as he could.

“Not too groundbreaking,” he said. “Just giving him the lay of the land and some insight on players he didn’t know as well and how things have been going the last couple years, what we did, what we can improve on, what happened at the end of last year. Nothing too crazy. Just stuff (that) if I was coming into (his) situation, I would want to know.”

None of this comes as a surprise to Posey, who led the efforts to finalize Chapman’s $151 million extension after the 2024 season because he viewed him as the ideal player to build around.

“When you get buy-in from veterans, it’s a huge deal,” Posey said. “I was confident after getting to know Tony that even if there was hesitancy or even pushback early on, I felt really confident that Tony would shift that direction pretty quickly because of his personality. People see authenticity and wanting to be a team player and wanting to win, and Tony represents all those things.

“The greatest thing about our team sports is when you get that magic flow of everybody moving in the same direction. That’s what we’re all striving for. It’s one of the few pieces that still is impossible to measure, and so we’ll see how it goes. I’m optimistic, and it’s good to have a guy like Chapman show his support for Tony.”

Figuring out that bullpen? That might prove to be a lot tougher.