Giants Part Ways With Coaches Garvin Alston, Damon Minor; Pat Burrell “Unlikely” To Return To MLB Staff
The Giants’ coaching staff continues to be overhauled, as Shayna Rubin and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle report that assistant hitting coach Damon Minor and bullpen coach Garvin Alston won’t be part of the 2026 staff. Hitting coach Pat Burrell is also “unlikely to be part of the major league staff” but he’ll remain in the organization in another capacity.
Alston has been the bullpen coach for the last two seasons, and was pitching coach for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate from 2021-23. Prior to arriving in San Francisco, Alston was the Twins’ pitching coach in 2018, a bullpen coach for the Diamondbacks in 2016 and the Athletics in 2017, and worked with the A’s in a variety of different minor league coaching and coordinator roles from 2005-15.
Minor will leave his role after just one season, but his time in the Giants’ organization stretches back a full decade due to nine years as the hitting coach at Triple-A Sacramento. It isn’t known if Minor could also be retained in a different capacity, or if the Giants are moving on entirely.
Assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard will be the only member of the hitting coach trio remaining if Burrell also departs. “Pat The Bat” was the first overall pick of the 1998 draft, and his 12-year playing career concluded with two seasons with the Giants (and a championship ring as part of their 2010 World Series squad). Post-retirement, he remained with the Giants as a special assignment scout and then as a hitting coach with A-level San Jose beginning in the 2020 season.
San Francisco batters hit a collective .235/.311/.386 in 2025, with a 97 wRC+ that ranked 17th of 30 big league teams. The Giants similarly finished below the league average in all three slash line categories, as well as 19th in home runs (173). While the challenges of hitting at Oracle Park are well-known, a lot more was expected from a Giants lineup that added Willy Adames last winter, and Rafael Devers at midseason.
Bottom-line numbers aren’t always the reason why a team might be inspired to make a coaching change, yet the Giants’ decision to part ways with Alston is unusual since the team’s bullpen was a strength in 2025. Even after Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers were dealt at the trade deadline, San Francisco still finished the season with the fourth-best bullpen ERA (3.48) in baseball. One weak point, however, was the bullpen’s lack of strikeouts, as the relief corps’ 21% strikeout rate ranked 25th in the league. This isn’t necessarily a strike again Alston’s work, of course, and if anything it could be viewed as a positive that he was able to get strong results out of a pen that didn’t miss many bats.
A managerial change usually leads to changes on the coaching end, so it isn’t too surprising that a lot of new personnel will be joining Tony Vitello as fresh faces in the San Francisco dugout. Burrell, Minor, and Alston join J.P. Martinez, Ryan Christenson, and Matt Williams as coaches departing the staff. Martinez is going from the Giants’ pitching coach to a bullpen coach job with the Braves, and Christenson is going from being the Giants’ bench coach to becoming the Athletics’ new first base coach. In terms of incoming coaches, Jayce Tingler is the only new coach known to be joining the Giants’ ranks to date, with Tingler’s role yet to be revealed.
Giants Add Ryan Christenson, Pat Burrell To Coaching Staff
The Giants announced some additions to their coaching staff in year one under Bob Melvin. Longtime Melvin lieutenant Ryan Christenson joins as bench coach, while former MLB outfielder Pat Burrell is taking over as hitting coach. Matt Williams is also leaving the Padres to take over as third base coach.
Incumbent hitting coach Justin Viele will retain his title, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. He and Burrell are co-hitting coaches, while Pedro Guerrero is returning as an assistant hitting coach. According to Pavlovic, assistant hitting coach Dustin Lind will not be back in 2024.
San Francisco also announced a few holdovers from last year’s group. Mark Hallberg, Alyssa Nakken, J.P. Martinez and Taria Uematsu are all returning to the staff. Hallberg is moving across the diamond from third base to first base coach. Martinez remains an assistant pitching coach, while Nakken and Uematsu are assistant coaches.
None of the additions are surprising, as all three had been rumored to join the staff. Christenson’s strong relationship with Melvin has led him from Oakland to San Diego and back to the Bay Area. He worked as a bench coach in Oakland and San Diego and spent this year as the associate manager for the Friars.
Burrell, a former number one overall pick, was a two-time World Series winner during his 12-year MLB career. The second of those titles came in San Francisco, where he closed his playing days in 2010 and ’11. Burrell hit .253/.361/.472 with just under 300 home runs in the big leagues. The Miami product has coached in the Giants’ minor league ranks going back to 2020.
Williams, of course, had an excellent playing career in his own right. The five-time All-Star got a managerial job with the Nationals in 2014. He led Washington to a 96-win season to earn the NL Manager of the Year award in his first season. After the team went 83-79 during his second year at the helm, the Nationals dismissed him and hired Dusty Baker. Williams has subsequently spent time on the Diamondbacks, A’s and Padres staffs (overlapping with Melvin in the latter two places) and managed for two seasons in South Korea.
There’s still more to come on the coaching front in San Francisco. The team has not announced the future for pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who has reportedly considered leaving to take a position closer to his family on the East Coast.
Coaching Notes: Giants, Angels, Athletics
Bob Melvin’s upcoming interview with the Giants has only increased the speculation that the Padres manager could soon be taking over in San Francisco’s dugout, to the point that Melvin’s prospective coaching staff might already be coming into view. According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Melvin “would be likely” to bring Padres third base coach Matt Williams along with him from San Diego to San Francisco. Williams was a four-time All-Star with the Giants during his playing career, and two other former Giants players are also under consideration for coaching roles — Pat Burrell as a new hitting coach, and Ryan Vogelsong as the new pitching coach.
Justin Viele, Pedro Guerrero and Dustin Lind are the Giants’ trio of incumbent hitting coaches, yet given the club’s lackluster offense in 2023, it isn’t surprising change might be coming. The pitching staff’s results were more up-and-down, yet Slusser notes that pitching coach Andrew Bailey “is extremely well regarded” and has often been considered by other teams for jobs in their organizations. If Vogelsong did become pitching coach, the Giants could look to retain Bailey as bench coach or as the director of pitching, but Bailey also might prefer a new role with a team nearer to his family on the East Coast. Vogelsong has been working as a roving instructor within the Giants organization, while Burrell has been the hitting coach for the Giants’ Single-A affiliate.
More on other coaching situations around baseball…
- The Angels have hired Dom Chiti as a minor league pitching coordinator, The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli reports (via X). Chiti previously worked for Los Angeles as a special assistant and then as bullpen coach from 2020-22, before joining the Mets as their bullpen coach for the 2023 season. The 64-year-old Chiti has over four decades of experience in a variety of coaching and front office roles with the Angels, Mets, Rangers, Indians, and Orioles.
- The Athletics are parting ways with bullpen coach Mike McCarthy, Fangraphs’ David Laurila writes. 2023 was McCarthy’s first year on Oakland’s coaching staff, and his first year on a big league staff altogether. Before joining the A’s, McCarthy spent five seasons coaching for the Triple-A affiliates of the Padres and Twins.
Pat Burrell Retires
APRIL 12th: The Phillies have announced that Burrell will sign a one-day minor league contract and retire with the club that originally drafted him. The retirement ceremony will be held on May 19th.
JAN. 30th: Pat Burrell is retiring, MLBTR has learned. We last heard from Pat the Bat in November, when the 35-year-old told the AP, "I have not decided yet, but I don't think I can play anymore [due to a chronic foot injury]. It hurts me to say that."
Burrell was drafted first overall by the Phillies in 1998 as a third baseman out of the University of Miami, but spent the bulk of his career as a left fielder. In nine seasons with the Phillies, he hit .257/.367/.485 with 251 home runs. His home run total ranks fourth all-time for the Phillies, behind only Del Ennis, Ryan Howard, and Mike Schmidt. He finished fourth in the 2000 Rookie of the Year voting, and received MVP votes in '02 and '05. Burrell had stints with the Rays and Giants to finish his career, during which he earned approximately $71MM in big league salary and scored a pair of World Series rings.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
West Links: Dodgers, Kinsler, Athletics, Giants
Three years ago today, the Padres traded Khalil Greene to the Cardinals for Luke Gregerson and Mark Worrell. Greene hit .200/.272/.347 during his one season in St. Louis and has been out of baseball for two years while Gregerson has emerged as one of the game's best setup relievers. Here's the latest from baseball's two West divisions…
- Bidding for the Dodgers is down to three groups according to Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter): Steven Cohen & Patrick Soon-Shiong, Magic Johnson & Stan Kasten, and Stan Kroenke.
- The Rangers and agent Jay Franklin met on Friday to discuss a contract extension for Ian Kinsler, writes MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Franklin is “not very optimistic” a deal will be reached before the season. Kinsler is under contract for 2012 with a $10MM club option for 2013.
- Commissioner Bud Selig is "working actively behind the scenes" to find a resolution between the Giants and Athletics regarding Oakland's stadium situation according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- Pat Burrell has formally agreed to scout for the Giants this season, reports Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle. The slugger retired this offseason and is currently providing internal evaluations of San Francisco's prospects.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports wrote about the evolution of the DH position, where clubs are using a rotation system similar to the Rangers last season.
National League Free Agent Arbitration Offers
10 National League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make today, and we'll update them in this post in advance of the 11pm central time deadline. For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here.
Updated team decisions:
- The Giants won't offer arbitration to Pat Burrell (B) or Cody Ross (B) according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Carlos Beltran (A) contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Dodgers declined to offer Hiroki Kuroda (B) arbitration, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times (on Twitter). Rod Barajas (B) already signed with the Pirates.
- The Pirates offered arbitration to Derrek Lee (B) while declining to offer Ryan Ludwick (B) and Chris Snyder (B) arbitration. Ryan Doumit (B) already signed with the Twins.
- The Phillies did not offer Roy Oswalt (A) or Brad Lidge (B) arbitration, according to the AP (via ESPN). The team announced that it offered arbitration to Raul Ibanez (B), Ryan Madson (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick), and Jimmy Rollins (A), according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com (via Twitter).
- The Cubs offered arbitration to Carlos Pena (B) and Aramis Ramirez (B) but not to Kerry Wood (B), according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter).
- The Cardinals offered Edwin Jackson (B) and Albert Pujols (A) arbitration, but declined to make offers to Rafael Furcal (B) and Arthur Rhodes (B), according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). That leaves Octavio Dotel (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary).
- The Mets offered Jose Reyes (A) arbitration, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff (on Twitter).
- The Padres will offer arbitration to Heath Bell (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) and Aaron Harang (B), tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.
- The Brewers offered Prince Fielder (A) and Francisco Rodriguez (A, will not cost signing team a draft pick) arbitration. They declined to offer Yuniesky Betancourt (B) arbitration. Takashi Saito (A), contractually cannot be offered arbitration.
- The Braves did not offer arbitration to Alex Gonzalez (B), according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Teams with automatic decisions only:
- Reds: Francisco Cordero (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary), Ramon Hernandez (modified B, no arbitration offer necessary)
- Astros: Clint Barmes (B, already signed with Pirates)
- Rockies: Mark Ellis (B, already signed with Dodgers)
Quick Hits: Twins, Burrell, Willis, Mariners
As Ryan Madson's agreement with the Phillies falls through, we learn that one of his former Phillies teammates may be hanging 'em up …
- Twins GM Terry Ryan said he remains interested in re-signing Michael Cuddyer, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Ryan said he spoke with Cuddyer earlier this week and added that the Twins should have the flexibility in their projected $100MM 2012 payroll to make Cuddyer a fair offer. So far, the Phillies have been aggressively pursuing Cuddyer this offseason.
- Free agent outfielder/DH Pat Burrell, 35, said his career is likely over due to a nagging right foot injury, according to Janie McCauley of the Associated Press (via NBCSports.com). The former Phillie, Ray and Giant, however, has yet to make a final decision. The Phils made Burrell the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1998.
- Left-hander Dontrelle Willis is drawing a lot of interest on the free agent market, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). Willis pitched to a 5.00 ERA/4.10 FIP in 75 2/3 innings with the Reds in 2011.
- Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said on MLB Network Radio that he is motivated to acquire an impact bat either through trade or free agency, tweets Jim Bowden.
- A pair of veteran scouts who follow the international free agent market predicted that Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes would sign a bigger contract than the one fellow defector Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds two offseasons ago, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Chapman signed for six years and $30.5MM.
Quick Hits: Burrell, Beltran, Lee, Kuo
Evan Longoria, Dan Johnson, Chris Carpenter and Robert Andino delivered in big moments for their respective teams on this incredible night of baseball, as the Cardinals and Rays won the wild cards. Some links as the season winds down…
- Pat Burrell told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that he'll give his chronic foot strain a month to recover before he decides on his future in baseball. If he does play again, it would only be with the Giants.
- Carlos Beltran told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that he'll give the Giants the first chance to sign him when he hits free agency this offseason (Twitter link). The Giants will have five days of exclusive negotiating rights after the World Series, plus the month of October.
- Carlos Lee hinted that he might retire after the 2012 season, when his six-year, $100MM contract expires with the Astros, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Lee, 35, says he wants to spend more time with his family.
- Hong-Chih Kuo told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that he needs a break and is currently unsure if he'll play again. "If I want to still play and somebody wants to give me a try, I play," he said. "If not, fine with me. I'll miss it." The 30-year-old was sidelined with an anxiety disorder this year and may return home to Taiwan and open a restaurant. The Dodgers will consider non-tendering Kuo and he said he'll understand if they do.
Giants Notes: Burrell, Ross, Sanchez, Whiteside
The 2011 Giants closely resembled last year’s World Championship team, but change lies ahead for San Francisco. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle explains that health considerations and the rising cost of arbitration eligible players will shape next year’s Giants team. Here are some highlights from Schulman's piece:
- Pat Burrell could again sign a one-year deal when he hits free agency after the season (he earns $1MM this year), but he may have to retire because of a foot injury. Burrell says he’ll play as long as he’s healthy enough to take the field.
- Schulman says it’s hard to imagine the Giants offering Cody Ross a raise from $6.3MM or agreeing to a multiyear deal when the outfielder hits free agency.
- Mark DeRosa is hoping to sign closer to Atlanta, where he makes his home, and realizes he may be in line for a minor league deal.
- The Giants will probably decline Jeremy Affeldt’s $5MM option for 2012, but they’ll “almost certainly” pursue him in free agency, according to Schulman.
- Jonathan Sanchez and Andres Torres are non-tender candidates. When MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes identified Sanchez and Torres as non-tender candidates last month, he pointed out that Sanchez’s salary would rise over $6MM (he now earns $4.8MM) through arbitration.
- Eli Whiteside is another non-tender candidate, Schulman writes.
- Jeff Keppinger, who’s arbitration eligible, will likely return in 2012 and it’s hard to imagine the Giants cutting Nate Schierholtz after seeing him progress in 2011.
- The Giants may not have room on the roster for both Mike Fontenot and Emmanuel Burriss.
Quick Hits: Jimenez, Burrell, Ellsbury, Rasmus
A couple items of note as former Red Sock Justin Masterson battles his old team in Boston …
- Indians right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, acquired from the Rockies in a pre-deadline blockbuster, never asked to be traded out of Colorado, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, although he wanted a resolution on the situation, and he didn't mind having the opportunity to waive his 2014 option with the commencement of the trade (via Twitter).
- The Giants activated Mark DeRosa from the 60-day disabled list today, but they haven't announced a corresponding 40-man roster move yet and "are being evasive about it," according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter). Baggarly speculates that the Lads could activate Pat Burrell from the 15-day DL and release him.
- The Red Sox were willing to discuss a trade with the Cardinals involving center fielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Colby Rasmus in 2010, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter), but the talks never gained traction. That would have been a heck of a trade. Rasmus, of course, was traded by St. Louis to the Blue Jays prior to last month's trade deadline.
- The Indians were very close to drafting Ellsbury at No. 14 overall in the 2005 draft but instead opted for Trevor Crowe, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter). So close, in fact, that team officials asked Ellsbury, a Native American, his feelings about the team's logo, the so-called Chief Wahoo. … Edes' sources didn't provide him with Ellsbury's response, though.