Posey shocks baseball world with unprecedented hire

The Giants shocked the baseball world on Wednesday morning, as ESPN reported that the team is finalizing a deal with University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to become the team’s next manager. 

It is as unprecedented as unprecedented moves get. Vitello will become the first man to ever jump from the collegiate ranks directly to a MLB manager position. Vitello is a highly decorated college coach, but has no professional coaching experience. 

He will certainly bring a fire to the Giants and to Major League Baseball as a whole that has typically been reserved for the college diamond. Vitello famously has a short fuse, with umpires, his players, and even opposing coaches and players. Giants fans who were bothered by Bob Melvin’s laid back manner should be refreshed by the heat of a Vitello. 

The announcement ends a days long saga that saw Tennessee media tracking their national championship head coach’s every public move. At the beginning of the day on Tuesday it looked likely that he would take the job in San Francisco, but by the time the afternoon rolled around and he was on the field with his team scrimmaging, Volunteer fans became more vocally hopeful. 

The gap between the highest levels of college baseball and the major leagues has never been smaller than it is now. In the SEC, the game’s best players whizz through the minor leagues as nothing more than a tune up before immediately contributing to Big League clubs. Now Vitello can replicate the path that many of his players have taken over the last eight years. 

The move is fraught with risk, but it’s just the type of radical statement that the Giants need right now. Let’s hope Buster Posey knows what he’s doing.