{"id":577668,"date":"2026-02-17T15:28:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/577668\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:28:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:28:05","slug":"after-tony-vitellos-latest-tangent-its-time-for-the-giants-manager-to-pivot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/577668\/","title":{"rendered":"After Tony Vitello\u2019s latest \u2018tangent,\u2019 it\u2019s time for the Giants manager to pivot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the <\/a>Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415″ podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2013 What to make of new Giants manager Tony Vitello?<\/p>\n

One week into spring training, the baseball industry is still trying to figure him out, and it might be a while until it\u2019s known exactly who he is or exactly where his mind-set is.<\/p>\n

Is Vitello the perfect fit as the Giants\u2019 manager, dedicated to pushing the organization to the postseason? Or does he miss the University of Tennessee so badly that he\u2019ll continue to sing the praises of the Vols program even on the Giants\u2019 dime?<\/p>\n

So far, he has given off vibes that suggest both, and it has fans wondering about his priorities \u2013 and it\u2019s not just the fans.<\/p>\n

Vitello often drops references of his experiences at Tennessee (as well as Missouri, TCU, and Arkansas) during his morning media sessions, and Monday, a player shared that Vitello does the same during conversations within the clubhouse and asked a bystander if it\u2019s normal practice.<\/p>\n

The anticipation is that Vitello eventually will move on from excessive college talk, perhaps once exhibitions begin or at the very latest by Opening Day. Once there\u2019s a box score, once someone hits a three-run homer or pitches a few scoreless innings or makes a fabulous catch, data will surface to evaluate.<\/p>\n

But for now, college ball is pretty much all Vitello can draw from, and he mentions it a lot even when not asked about it. In his defense, he has no pro ball experience, which makes this such a historic (and risky) hire, so he shouldn\u2019t necessarily be knocked for how he lays out his initial messaging.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t seem to be a huge deal or detriment, but then Monday, Vitello took his Tennessee tales to a regrettable extreme. Usually, media sessions begin with reporters asking questions. This time, he did the questioning because he admittedly remains bothered by how the process of his hiring by the Giants was perceived.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew format today,\u201d began Vitello as he sat in the Giants\u2019 Scottsdale Stadium dugout in front of more than a dozen reporters. \u201cLet me ask you guys a question first: When did you first think I was taking this job? Do you remember that far back?\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone said four days before the Giants made the announcement on Oct. 22.<\/p>\n

3 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday, Feb. 7<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s funny to say that because that was not reality at all,\u201d said Vitello, proceeding to go off on a long \u201ctangent\u201d \u2013 that\u2019s his word \u2013 on why he\u2019s still annoyed, even hurt, by the reporting of his pending departure from Tennessee.<\/p>\n

That Vitello brought this up to start his press session was odd. It shouldn\u2019t be the story of the day, but it was. Any veteran manager with ample media training would know that something so concerning should surface after the session, off the record with beat writers he trusts. Not in front of a gaggle of cameras to share with the world.<\/p>\n

But this is all new to Vitello, who has gone from a relatively small town where college sports are king to a huge media market and major metropolitan city where pro sports blend in with countless other activities.<\/p>\n

I asked Vitello why this was a concern four months later, and he vented on why he was upset that the story surfaced before he made his final decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause somebody tweeted it out,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know who told him. I wish I did. It might\u2019ve changed the course of history if I knew who did, to be honest with you. It just bothers me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Hmmm.<\/p>\n

This statement and others went viral on social media and were interpreted all kinds of ways. One prevailing theme: If Vitello had discovered who leaked the info, and the leak came from a certain corner, would he have told Buster Posey and the Giants no?<\/p>\n

Vitello is the 16th big-league manager I\u2019ve covered on a daily basis, and he\u2019s far different for one main reason: From a Giants standpoint, Roger Craig, Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou, Bruce Bochy, Gabe Kapler, and Bob Melvin all had a wealth of professional experience and all played in the majors, in some cases exceptionally well, while Vitello never played, coached, or managed in pro ball.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a transition he\u2019ll need to make if he wants longevity in the pro game. The focus ought to be more on the Giants and less on the Vols, ASAP. Monday, however, his mind was on the old news.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 18, The Athletic ran a story that the Giants were \u201cclosing in on hiring\u201d Vitello. Earlier that day, The Standard reported<\/a> that \u201cthere are people with knowledge of the process who believe Vitello\u2019s candidacy is realistic, even at the top of the list.\u201d By the end of the day, it was assumed in Knoxville that he was taking the job, and he was left to play defense.<\/p>\n

Vitello said Monday that it was a wrong assumption, that he was still considering it. He didn\u2019t appreciate that he couldn\u2019t control the narrative and that coaches, players, and recruits all wondered what was happening. Curiously, he also said, \u201cI didn\u2019t read any of it. I still haven\u2019t read any of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Either way, the decision was made, and the announcement came out. Vitello is the Giants\u2019 manager, and that\u2019s all that should matter. Too much preparation is required in spring training for him to be distracted with what transpired late last summer in Knoxville.<\/p>\n

\"TwoBuster Posey hired Vitello after firing Bob Melvin at the end of the 2025 season. | Source: Ash Ponders for The Standard<\/p>\n

What triggered Vitello to vent is anyone\u2019s guess. It should be noted that before the media session, he did an interview across the field with Ken Rosenthal, who co-authored the October Athletic story, but Vitello mentioned no names and said, \u201cI\u2019m not throwing this water bottle at anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that sucks is I still haven\u2019t said bye to anybody,\u201d Vitello said of the folks back in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

He confessed a \u201cchunk of my heart is in Knoxville\u201d while adding, \u201cI\u2019m pretty geeked up to live in San Francisco.\u201d The latter part should be the emphasis.<\/p>\n

The best question of the week came from Stephanie Apstein, senior writer at Sports Illustrated, who asked, \u201cYou\u2019re in an interesting spot where you want to be able to draw from your experience, but you also don\u2019t want to start every sentence with, \u2018Well, in college \u2026\u2019 How do you balance wanting to share that side of you without making it seem like that\u2019s your entire personality?\u201d<\/p>\n

To which Vitello said, \u201cHave I done that too much here? \u2026 You hit a soft spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday, he hinted he might be ready to pivot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably time after today to divide the line in the sand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,185,1870],"class_list":{"0":"post-577668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-giants","13":"tag-sanfrancisco","14":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-giants","17":"tag-sfgiants","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-tony-vitello"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}