The San Francisco Giants are adding former MLB manager Ron Washington, one of the top infield instructors in the sport, to help fill out new manager Tony Vitello‘s coaching staff.
USA Today baseball columnist Bob Nightengale was first to report the news of Washington’s hire. There was some initial confusion about the report;Â Nightengale’s post on X originally said Washington had agreed to return to the A’s as a coach, but he then edited his post to say Washington was joining the Giants instead.
In an interview on KNBR-AM/FM’s “Murph and Markus” show on Thursday morning, Giants general manager Zack Minasian confirmed Nightengale’s report, though he said the team is still finalizing the hire. Minasian also said that Vitello, the former college head coach who has never coached professional baseball, suggested the hire.
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“I give Tony a lot of credit. He talks about being a team and filling blind spots as well as possible,” Minasian said.
Washington, 73, spent the past two seasons as the manager of the Los Angeles Angels working under Zack Minasian’s brother, Perry. Washington left in the middle of the 2025 season, and the Angels decided not to retain him once the season concluded. But according to the Athletic, Washington remained interested in managing or coaching.
Before his two seasons with the Angels, Washington spent eight years as the manager of the Texas Rangers from 2007 to 2014, leading them to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010-11. Washington’s Rangers were on the losing side in 2010 when the Giants won their first championship in San Francisco. Washington previously spent two stints in the Bay Area as an infield coach for the Athletics when they were in Oakland (1996-2006, 2015-2016). His renowned work is credited with helping A’s third baseman Eric Chavez win six Gold Gloves.
He’s also become a minor baseball celebrity outside the game because of his role in the book and movie “Moneyball,” where one famous scene shows the actor portraying Washington telling free agent catcher Scott Hatteberg that a planned move to first base would be “incredibly hard.” (In both real life and the movie, Hatteberg successfully makes the position switch.)
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He certainly appears to be a fit with the Giants, who are trying to get both superstar Rafael Devers and top prospect Bryce Eldridge trained to be solid first basemen. Devers was a third baseman during his time with the Red Sox but refused to switch to first base in Boston before he was traded to San Francisco in June. Once he joined the Giants, though, Devers began playing the position and ultimately fared well in limited action. Meanwhile, Eldridge was taught the position over the past two years with the help of both Will Clark and J.T. Snow, and the then-20-year-old showed promise in his brief stint in the majors.
“I just think it’s such a great fit, not only for our players but with Wash having the Bay Area ties,” Minasian said on KNBR. “I’m a big believer in staff development, and I think Wash is going to have a really big impact on our coaching staff.”
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This article originally published at SF Giants adding ex-MLB manager as infield coach to help Tony Vitello.