The San Francisco Giants are finalizing a deal to name University of Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello their next manager, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
More news: Former Dodgers Catcher Wants to Be Padres’ Next Manager
Vitello will be the first ever manager to jump from college to MLB without any professional experience in what is a historic development for the Giants.
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey has proven to be bold in his short time in charge of his club. Nothing is bolder than this move, though, as Vitello has no professional experience and is entering a significantly different environment in managing at the MLB level.
Nevertheless, Posey and the Giants were obviously impressed with Vitello in the interview process, and are now trusting him to make the jump straight to MLB.
The Athletic, which first reported the Giants’ interest in Vitello on Saturday, provided some insight into the decision:
“Posey was seeking a big personality who could imbue the Giants’ clubhouse with confidence, and Vitello’s dynamism and charisma have been on full display in both his recruiting efforts and the Volunteers’ brash and buoyant style of play. Vitello led his teams to three College World Series appearances in the past five seasons.”
With the Los Angeles Dodgers dominating the National League West for the last 13 years, Posey and co. felt like they needed to take a big swing. That’s exactly what they did.
More news: Dodgers Announce World Series Game 1 and 2 Starting Pitchers
Photo Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
Have you downloaded the new Dodgers Nation app yet? Click here for Apple Users and here for Android Users to be a part of the redesigned app to give fans everything they need, all in one place. Don’t miss out on live GameCast with play-by-play, news and analysis, Dodgers Nation podcasts and videos, all the stats you want and more!
