The Giants missed the MLB playoffs for the fifth consecutive year and are in the midst of a troubling season. Over 20 games under .500 and dealing with several issues, the Giants are heading back to the drawing board this offseason — but they will not be looking for a new manager.<\/p>\n
Last month, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey announced that Tony Vitello will return<\/a> in 2027, giving the rookie manager another crack at adjusting to the big league level. Speaking with Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show,” Posey envisions Vitello will grow and expects him to better next season.<\/p>\n “It was a big learning year for him,\u201d Posey told Kawakam<\/a>i<\/a>. “I think I\u2019ve heard him say it a couple of times. If he could go back to the start of the year, he wouldn\u2019t treat it like it was Game 7 of the World Series every day. I think hearing that is a real positive for me because I do believe whether you\u2019re a big league manager, a big league coach, or you\u2019re a player, one of the key ingredients is trying to stay as even keeled and level and on a slightly upward trajectory.<\/p>\n “Really, with everything. With your thoughts, your actions, the way you communicate, and I\u2019m sure that\u2019s been a learning curve for him this year. I don\u2019t see how it couldn\u2019t be, just with the amount of games and the everyday aspect of Major League Baseball. We\u2019ve had a lot of discussions as a group with Tony back and forth and a lot of those conversations I\u2019ll keep private, because they\u2019re held in private for a reason, but he\u2019s a very introspective guy, and I\u2019d be willing to bet he would be able to rattle off some things that he has in his mind that he wants to do different going forward next year that hopefully will help us out.”<\/p>\n The Giants expected to be competitive this season<\/a> and possibly be in the hunt for a wild-card spot at the end of the campaign. Instead, the Giants are staring at a 90-plus loss season and need to figure out how they can get back into the hunt. But through the struggles, Posey never wavered in his belief in Vitello and always knew that he would be back next season regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n “There was no other decision,\u201d Posey told Kawakami. \u201cNever any thoughts like that. He was going to be the guy back, a guy that we believed in when we went through the process and still believe in him. I think he\u2019s got a lot of great attributes as a leader, and I think that those will continue to get better. Tony is our guy, so we\u2019re going to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n The Giants have nine games left in 2026, and while wins are not the main priority, identifying players to build around is. Headlined by Rafael Devers, who was on a tear before undergoing core muscle surgery<\/a>, and 21-year-old phenom Bryce Eldridge, the Giants hope that guys like that can bring them back to MLB relevance — along with Vitello, of course<\/p>\n