Earlier today, the Giants made waves when it was reported that the club is “closing in on hiring” University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as their next manager. While no deal is in place at this point, the news still came as a surprise. That’s not only because Vitello has no experience in professional baseball but also because Rangers special assistant (and former Giants catcher) Nick Hundley had been viewed as the favorite for the job throughout the process. Shayna Rubin and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle offered some perspective on that latter point this afternoon when they reported that Hundley actually withdrew his name from consideration “several days ago” for family reasons.
That Hundley decided to withdraw his name from consideration is not necessarily a total shock, given that he also withdrew from the Giants’ managerial hiring process two years ago due to those same family considerations. Rubin and Slusser note that Hundley and his wife have two young daughters, which naturally complicates the decision to return to the dugout and take on the rigorous schedule of an employee who travels with the team during the season.
While it’s possible that Hundley could simply opt to remain in his current role with the Rangers, which offers him far more flexibility than a managerial gig would, Rubin and Slusser do mention that Hundley has been “targeted by” the Padres in their own managerial search following Mike Shildt’s retirement. Hundley and his family live in San Diego, as Rubin and Slusser note, which could make taking a job with the Padres far more attractive from a family perspective.
The reported timelines between Shildt’s departure from the Padres and Hundley’s decision to withdraw from consideration in San Francisco line up well, but that shouldn’t be taken as an indication that the two events were necessarily linked or as a sign regarding the level of Hundley’s involvement in San Diego’s managerial search. It’s not known at this point if Hundley even accepted an interview from the Padres, much less if he’s a favorite to land the role among a field that’s already known to include Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and San Diego pitching coach Ruben Niebla.
Aside from Hundley’s residence in San Diego, he also has deep ties to the Padres organization from his playing career. Drafted by the team in the second round of the 2005 draft, Hundley climbed the minor league ladder with the Padres until he made it to San Diego in 2008 at the age of 24. He went on to spend parts of seven seasons with the Padres before being traded to Baltimore in late May of 2014. Despite Hundley’s decade of time in the Padres organization between the major and minor leagues, it should be noted that he did not overlap with Preller, who took over baseball operations in early August of 2014.
2023:
Giants: Hey Nick, want a job?
Hundley: Sorry, can’t. Will get in the way of family.
2025:
Giants: Hey Nick, want a job?
Hundley: Sure!
Giants: What about your family?
Hundley: oh crap, nevermind.
Probably because San Francisco is an awful job. Have to compete against the Padres, underrated Diamondbacks, and you will always be judged on how you do against the Dodgers. Also, big players don’t seem like they want to play there.
And big players don’t seem like they want to play there.
I guess because money talks.
If D’backs are underrated how is it they finished 4th in the division behind the Giants? They traded away Merrill Kelly, Naylor, and Suarez, and they’re losing Gallen to free-agency. Plus they’re a team that doesn’t spend. Yet you suggest AZ is a better job than SF?
Hitters are reluctant to sign in SF because of the park, not for any reason to do with the team, or SF itself. Pitchers will sign there. Your anti-SF bias is clouding your ability to reason, though not sure there was much ability to begin with.
You did not refute anything I said lol. Being the manager of the Giants is a tough job. You can clown the D’Backs all you want, but they have a pennant in the last few years and were the most recent team to be the Dodgers in a playoff series. They also have better young talent than the Giants.
Flags fly forever, and in turn, the Giants have had 3 rings compared to the Diamondbacks 1 in the last 30 years.
Their 2025 W-L was almost the same, and plus, Torey Lovullo is locked with Arizona, so there’s that.
They’re not clowning the diamondbacks. They’re stating facts. No one is not managing the giants because they’re scared to compete with the 80-82 diamondbacks.
And you did not refute anything I wrote about the “underrated” D’backs, LOL.
The fact you discount them like that makes them underrated, which proves my point. Sure, they’re no better than a 3rd place team, but it’s someone in your division you have to worry about for a playoff spot.
“Sure, they’re no better than a 3rd place team…”
Correction: 4th place team.
I did not discount them, only stated the facts. Are you denying they’re looking worse for 2026 with the trades they’ve made, and the players going to free-agency?
And, what I was discounting was your assertion that the D’backs were “underrated” and a better place to manage than SF.
Every team in the NLW is a threat for a playoff spot as well as multiple other teams in the other divisions for a WC berth. Thanks for ignoring the insightful to state the obvious.
SF is seeming to be stuck in perpetual mediocrity. One great outlier season doesn’t change their outcomes since their last World Series season. Those days are long gone.
Arizona, meanwhile, made a World Series recently (although it was probably also an outlier) and seems like they can develop young talent under this front office leadership. I actually agree fred here, although I believe hiring Vitello was a slam dunk.
“I actually agree (sic) fred here…”
The crux of the debate, and what I disputed, was that AZ was underrated, and was a better job for a manager than SF. So, is that what you also agree with?
Plus, thanks for suggesting the AZ WS appearance was as much of an outlier as the Giants’ 107 win season. I’d say maybe more so, since any team can get hot and go deep in the playoffs, making it more easily achievable than winning 107 games in a season.
You, like many fans, seem to place too much on recent performance and forget how soon things can change. Look how many fans thought the Braves would win the NLE in 2025. Or, how many fans dismissed KC, and Detroit, as playoff teams prior to the 2024 season. It’s guaranteed fans will assume the same teams that won this season will win next season, and they’ll be wrong about several.
But the bottom line is that the outlook for SF, with their core intact, unlike AZ’s, and with more money to spend in free-agency, is better for 2026.
I think it’s odd to suggest I’m putting too much emphasis on recent performance when my whole point is that they’ve been “stuck in perpetual mediocrity” aka over an extended period of time. They’ve been average for the last 10 years, which coincidentally, the numbers back up perfectly now that I look at them–the Giants’ record over the last 10 years is 758-760, a .499 winning %. Now factor in the fluke 107 win season that convinced nobody and they’re truly worse than that. The Giants can spend, which may help if they spend on the right fits, but they need to learn to develop their own talent. They’re bottom 10 in the MLB at that.
Way to miss my point. The fact that the Giants have been mediocre does not mean they will continue to be in perpetuity. That’s the limited view of the fan that doesn’t see change coming, and is so surprised when a team goes from worse to first
Maybe use a little insight, and look at the core, and the direction they’re moving. As to prospects, you’re wrong that they’re bottom 10. They’re middle of the pack, not great, but not bottom 10.
And maybe Zaidi wasn’t successful at developing a lot of talent, but he’s gone and there’s fresh blood running the team.
This thread is strangely fascinating
No, I didn’t miss your point, I just don’t care about it lol. My opinion is my opinion; you whining about it won’t change it. Besides, if you’re bothered by me “missing your point,” pay attention to mine: DEVELOPING prospects, not the state of the farm. If you don’t think the Giants have been bottom 10 at developing prospects in the recent past, bias is kicking in. Sure, it’s a new regime, but they’ve yet to prove otherwise, so why would I suddenly think differently? None of your top prospects have turned into anything impressive, the guys who debuted this season (under Posey’s watch) looked mediocre or worse, and currently, all the top guys after Eldridge are far away and/or have massive flaws that I don’t buy can be developed until you start showing you can actually do it.
Meanwhile, Arizona has developed players under their current regime. They actually developed arguably a top 10 position player in baseball, some quality pitchers, and traded others for players like Moreno.
It’s just my opinion, it’s not that serious.
“…I didn’t miss your point, I just don’t care about it…”
I see, so it’s okay to ignore the point someone made in their post and talk about something not relevant? If you want to respond to someone’s post, call me old-fashioned, but I think if you respond to someone’s post it ought to be about the point they were making. LOL.
Might I remind you that you responded to my post, not the other way around. You can have your opinion, I defend that right. But when you respond to someone else’s opinion, for Pete’s sake make it relevant.
There is no difference between farm system rankings and the development of prospects. The farm is where prospects are developed, doofus, and consensus opinion is the Giants’ farm has improved due to the 2025 draft and deadline deals.
“…it’s a new regime, but they’ve yet to prove otherwise, so why would I suddenly think differently?”
Since it is a new regime, maybe do what I’m trying to do, and that’s keep an open mind and wait and see what happens. And you’re dead wrong, since other than Drew Gilbert, no one debuted this season that was acquired by Posey. Every other guy that debuted was from previous regimes. You’re going to pass judgement based on one guy who played all of 39 games?
Your baseball knowledge is questionable. AZ has zero top 100 prospects. They have some intriguing talent, also not close, but rank last in Baseball America’s Pitching Stuff
It’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it, no matter how uninformed it is.
I responded to your comment with my own point–which actually did connect to your initial point–but you focused on very specific words/arguments of mine and suggested my opinion was ignorant in your reply, so obviously I no longer cared about the original topic and defended my statements. So yeah, safe to say the topic shifted when you emphasized replying to that specific portion of my comment.
And here you are admonishing me for making a separate point (which I’ll remind you once again, you initiated, by focusing on specific words) when you can’t even be bothered to read the opposing argument correctly.
“There is no difference between farm system rankings and the development of prospects.”
LOL WHAT?!?! Uh, yeah, this is dead wrong. A good developing organziation, like the Dodgers, Guardians, Mariners, Rays, etc. develops players who aren’t top 100 prospects (or even top 20 in the farm) and turns them into viable major league players. So yeah, there is a massive difference between the two. Arizona develops their top prospects and some mid-tier prospects to supplement their free agents. SF hasn’t done either for a decade. Can they under Posey? Maybe, but there’s no evidence to suggest that so far, so what you have is called blind faith, and it’s not any better than me having blind disbelief, except my opinion is supported by a small sample size because Posey’s crew is not precluded from developing previous regime’s players. I guarantee they’ve tried.
So yeah, you can call my opinion uninformed, but in reality, it’s no less uninformed than yours–even if you’re secretly Posey or Vitello–because even then, you wouldn’t know any better than I do about whether or not you’ll be able to develop prospects into major league players.
Congrats to you both!
I truly thought the replies on this thread would end up reducing from multiple paragraphs to two or three word insults as it went along (I.e. you’re wrong! Your mama! Meanie head!), but you guys have maintained the same monolithic post structure throughout this entire discussion and made it completely your own. In the comments world, this is like Aaron Judge vs Cal Raleigh. And I’m here for it. Big swings, no singles.
“I responded to your comment with my own point–which actually did connect to your initial point–but you focused on very specific words/arguments of mine and suggested my opinion was ignorant in your reply.”
Holy convolution batman! The point of responding to a post is to either agree with, or refute the point being made. Not decide to offer a different point on which to argue. That’s known as a strawman. And did you not say you did not care what my point was?
You say the farm system and the development of prospects are different things. Where do think organizations develop their prospects? If it isn’t in their MiL system where is it? It’s basic that the farm system is where prospects are developed. You cite the Dodgers as being good at development. Guess who has the top-rated farm system? It’s the Dodgers, because they have 7 guys rated in the top 100. The M’s are #3, also with 7. And the Guards are #5, with 3 in the top 60. Development and the farm system are inseparable.
Of course Posey’s org will try and continue to develop Zaidi’s prospects. That’s what happens with every FO change for every club.
Your view that teams that develop well are turning prospects less talented into major league regulars, that other teams are unable to, is completely misguided. Development starts in being able to project that progress on raw talent. Guys less talented don’t develop.
What I have is not blind faith, but an understanding that it takes several years to be able to assess the work of a PBO or GM. I’m keeping an open mind, also knowing that Posey is a smart guy, whose baseball knowledge is infinitely greater than mine. If Posey fails, he fails, and I’ll be ready for the Giants to move on to someone else. But those with a grip on reality will know that that will several years to know.
You lost me with the first sentence. Are you new to this message board? Lol. Because it sure seems like it given that reply.
As for the rest of it, I’m kinda getting bored here because we’ll never agree on any of these points and I don’t feel like saying the same things over and over to someone who isn’t bothering to read a comment in full or make an inference.
The first sentence was a quote from your post.
My sense as to your responses, and lack of understanding on your part, is to agree with you that further posts are useless.
Haha ok, man! Whatever makes you feel better. I’m sorry your inference skills are so poor and you have to be talked to like a 5 year old to understand an opposing argument.
Aww. You’ve probably disappointed @Another Dodgers Fan, with your descent down to the realm of insults. It says a lot when insults is all you’ve got.
I guess when you make $20+ mill as a professional athlete you can afford to pass up these types of opportunities. That’s not a knock on Hundley at all, good for him.
For sure. Bit at stake. Happy families, friendship dynamics….prudent is ok.
Priorities are on point.
I too am withdrawing my name from the S.F Giants managerial search.
Because it’s an awful job? Have to compete against the Padres, underrated Diamondbacks, and you will always be judged on how you do against the Dodgers? Also, big players don’t seem like they want to play there?
Deja Vu!
JARVIS —
Geez, can you please come up with a more compelling argument? Lots of teams miss out on players, especially when the money gets out of hand. Yours is just a worn out narrative. The Giants have several excellent stars who signed there because they wanted too.
I was just (sarcastically) repeating verbatim everything @fred-3 stating above. Apologies for my misguided attempt at snark.
Wasn’t mis-guided. Got me right between the eyes. Lol
Whether it’s Vitello (as rumored) or someone else expect Posey to hire the right manager he feels will make the Giants relevant & competitive once again
Posey won’t be pressured to make a hasty decision
Per Baggarly 2021, the Giants offered more money for Ohtani to an the Dodgers did (and same deferrals). Hundley’s wife doesn’t want to raise his daughters in the Bag Area.
It’s still the perceptions of “The City”.
Oh well,
Another future Giants manager’s wife can raise their kids in the Bay Area in Nick Hundley’s wife’s place, then.
Perception of “It’s baseball”
Agreed. I take my life in my hands every time I leave my Palo Alto home. If the Waymos don’t run me down, it’ll be some tech bro in a Lamborghini.
Don’t come into the city—leaves more room for the rest of us.
I spend a lot of time in San Francisco, a city I most definitely love. My snark is obviously not registering on your meter.
@Pete’sView,
Everything you think I’m saying, think the opposite. We good?
The Dodgers simply had more to offer Ohtani in many areas. Don’t make it more than it is.
LA has amazing areas and terrible areas. SF is probably the same these days.
I think you can say this about most places in the U.S. where people actually care to live.
except maybe Palm Beach FLA
The old“removing my name from consideration” is a ploy advised by agents so their client will never be looked upon as being passed up for a job.
Whatever happened to Todd Hundley??
Hanging out w Jim Hickman and Jose Cardenal and Ray Burris and Adolfo something
something was a heck of an outfielder.
Rick Monday was too at first started out strong each week. Then took the rest of the days off. Frustrating
Bart. You my man are on a roll. Lol
Bummer. I was hoping Hundley would be the guy as soon as the rumors started swirling around. Was wondering why it was taking so long. Bummer, too, as this is the second time he’s backed out, so there probably won’t be a third.
Never heard of Vitello, so hard to be super excited about it. Hope he fares better than Kapler and Melvin.
As long as he doesn’t flex he’ll be much better than Kapler.
He pulled out. Heh. 5 kids later…
Hundley “well, no the SD job just opened up”
Then he calls their last 3 managers that tell him the players run the show. No ifs, no butts, the players do what the players want to do. Then he stays at the Rangers.