After much speculation, it appears that the San Francisco Giants are closing in on a very sensible hiring. According to a report from The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, the Giants are hiring former MLB manager
Jayce Tingler to join debuting manager Tony Vitello’s staff.
Given the drastic differences between managing in college and professional baseball, it was all but guaranteed that the Giants would put some veterans on Vitello’s staff as he makes the unprecedented transition. And Tingler always made the most sense, given that he was, as Baggarly notes, Vitello’s teammate in college, and his close friend to this day.
Giants fans know Tingler from his days as the manager of the San Diego Padres. He took over ahead of the 2020 season and led San Diego to a brilliant campaign in the pandemic-shortened season, as the Padres finished with a 37-23 record, which was third-best in the Majors. They won their Wild Card Series that year, before getting swept in the best-of-five Division Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who would go on to win a championship. San Diego went 79-83 the next year, at which point Tingler was fired and replaced by Bob Melvin.
Since 2022, Tingler, who also coached in the Texas Rangers system, has been serving as bench coach for the Minnesota Twins. While it’s not yet known what role he’ll have on the Giants, bench coach seems like a likely choice, as he’ll be able to easily advise Vitello on decisions in that role.
While one coach that has been linked to the Giants is, indeed, heading to San Francisco, another is not. Former Giants first base coach Antoan Richardson was a logical fit to return to the Bay after it was announced that he would not be staying with the New York Mets, where he transformed their running game. But a reunion is not in the cards, as Richardson announced he will instead be joining the Atlanta Braves. And in announcing the news, he gave us an early contender for quote of the offseason.
And finally, hitting coach Pat Burrell told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that he will remain with the organization in 2026, though he’s not yet sure in what role.
There should be a lot more news on the coaching front in the coming days and weeks as Vitello’s staff gets filled out.
