Whoo boy! This is not great! Reports from Scottsdale say new Giants Manager, Tony Vitello, walked into the daily press gaggle and before even one question was asked, he posed a question of his own to the assembled media(one report seemed to say he directed the question at Susan Slusser): "When did you first think I was taking this job, can you remember that far back?" Susan replied that it was 4-5 days before the news that it happened. That did not seem to set well with Tony who launched into a timeline of how it came together, once again airing grievances over how it interrupted his plan to break it to his team. Really? I distinctly remember him reviewing that timeline and those grievances at his introductory press conference. So why the heck is he still talking about it and without prompting from any of the press? This comes on the heels of a very odd comment he made yesterday which didn't seem like such a big deal at the time but now raises even more questions where he suggested he is so popular around the Knoxville area the Giants are now going to have a whole new fanbase from there. Really?
Today was the second day of full squad workouts at spring training. How does Tony Vitello get to spring training after fielding questions at his introductory press conference, the Winter Meetings, multiple press conferences for free agent signings where questions about his readiness to manage professional players let alone at the MLB level seemed endless and still have his mind on what went down when he was hired for the job. I have to say I have become increasingly cringed over the way he continues talking about former Tennessee players like Gavin Kilen and Drew Gilbert, almost like he is still their old college coach looking on proudly as their pro careers develop and wondering if he can let go of that connection to make objective decisions. This incident does not help assuage those cringey feelings.
Tony, my man! Coaching at Tennessee was your old job. This is your new job. You've had 4 months to process and come to terms with why and how you left the old job. Let it go! Your focus needs to be on your current job which is managing the San Francisco Giants.
If I'm Buster Posey, I am not too pleased right now and if I haven't touched bases with my new manager to make sure everything is OK, it is definitely on my to-do list first thing in the morning. Yikes!
thank you, I could have not said it better. Bob from Dixon.
ReplyDeleteYikes. Focus, Tony.
ReplyDeleteI saw a YouTube video of two reporters talking about this. Most of the comments to the reporters’ takes were “let’s move on, NTSH” or words to that effect. I have to agree. Something happened that caused TV to get ticked off right before he walked in to the gaggle and it had to do with a reporter who”leaked” the story before he could tell his team. Something that was already reported months ago.
ReplyDeleteSo the reporters, Instead of talking about the practices going on day 2 of the full squad, they are now reporting about how bothered they are getting tuned-up by the new skipper. (TV should talk to Barry Bonds about why it’s a good idea to not tick-off the press). And while, it is true that TV should get over the leak of his job status/ negotiations, the reporters should not now be feeling obliged to make themselves part of the story and instead they should be reporting on the baseball booing on around them. Dude was blowing off a little steam. Reporters should focus on what happened on the field. Other than Harrison Bader’s flowing locks, I couldn’t find much out there about today beyond interviewing each other and reporting “TV was mean to us and now we question everything.”
Or, in the alternative (hear me out), TV just made a genius move by taking all the focus of how the team is performing on the field and put it on himself. Takes all the pressure off the players and gives them a chance to find their own way. TV becomes the story instead of Devers’ weight or Arraez taking balls off his shins, or JHL being freaked out by the new physical specimen in CF. TV is playing 3D chess.
Or he’s an emotional grease fire. I could go either way.
Not sure what video you saw. If you are referring to Justice De Los Santos and Shayna Rubin's discussion, I thought they were fair to him in their discussion. I am not sure why you would blame the reporters for keeping the story going when Tony Vitello brought it up out of the blue without being asked by anyone. Every discussion I've seen says the reporters were actually shocked he brought it up. Yeah, maybe he is playing 4D chess and so is a certain prominent U. S. politician I won't name. That seems like quite a stretch to me. If he wants to be a lightning rod for the players, there are other topics, times and places to do that. Not on Day 2 of full squad workouts in spring training.
DeleteVitello's hiring was one of Buster's moves i was not crazy with and I am not at all surprised about problems with him..The Big Cheese in College Baseball and the darling of the MLB network at draft time is no longer completely controlling kids and and every situation....Now he's dealing with pro players with a different mind set and he is jut a part of an orgnaization and not the top dog...and everything he does will be scrutinzed by fans and the media not just 10000 Volunteerr faithful. ANyways, he will have to earn the confidence and trust of those above and below (players) him...Honestly, he'll have to put more work then the players to be a successful and grow a tough skin...
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
See my response to LG below.
DeleteI suppose one could look at this from the angle that this reveals that Tony V is not the eternal rah-rah Mr. Positivity he comes off as. If the team is not performing up to the standards he is expecting then he is going to let that be known.
ReplyDeleteFrank Anderson said the premature report that Tony V accepted the Giants job came out 4 days before he actually accepted did put the Tennessee program and Tony V in a difficult spot. The recruits he lined up + assistant coaches were put in limbo. Its a unique situation + it was tough for him to leave. He was a rock star there and its also understandable that Buster might not be happy with what was said., but Tony V seems smart enough to understand that he needs to focus on his new job with the Giants.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Tony's comment that had he known the source of the leak it might have changed history forever might have been a shot at Buster himself? Baggs is rumored to have a direct line to Buster.
DeleteI’m with you Doc. Let’s hope it’s an initial growing pains, but I am a bit worried about. A big part of being an MLB manager is communicating the organizations goals to the outside world. And we all know college comms is not nearly the same level as the pros. Hopefully he can pick it up.
ReplyDelete- Fan
Hopefully Bochy and Dusty will sit down and have a talk with him. With the start of the new college baseball season perhaps something was brought up that opened up old wounds for him. Tony V is obviously a people person and fiercely loyal to his friends and it’s possible that he feels he has been painted as abandoning Tennessee in a self serving way…there’s probably a lot going on behind the scenes that we’re not aware about.
ReplyDeleteI say give Tony V a pass on this interaction. Was it appropriate to bring up? No, it wasn't. We don't know what other factors were in play in his decision to air out this grievance. One guess here, "The press has raised the question about him being a novelty to jump from college ball to mlb so much, perhaps this was an indirect way voicing his frustration towards the press." Maybe a reporter had just set him off prior to meeting with the press. I will assume that there was something that prompted the situation. With that said, yes he needs to have a thick skin in this job. Whatever the dynamics are, I say let this one slide. I am still excited about the coming season with Tony V as the manager and think we should focus on the players and the game.
ReplyDeleteThis story is a bit overblown, maybe another national reporter did set him off.. Tony V reportedly wears his emotions on his sleeve sometimes. The press is a tough business too, trying to be 1st getting a big story out.. The main story will be how well the team plays ball thus season.
DeletePlay Ball!
ReplyDeleteIt reminded me of the 'lollygaggers' shower scene From Bull Durham, only addressed to the press and not the players. Put them on notice that he isn't in the business of serving them shit sandwiches, and expects the same treatment from them. I've heard the same sentiments expressed behind doors by back office/coaching personnel, so I doubt TV lost any fans with the off field core. There are homer reporters the kids like to talk to, there's sports reporters who read all the president's men too many times and there are some just trying to do their job, which sometimes isn't easy. I'll be curious to see how THEY react to TV's little outburst.
ReplyDeleteYour milage may differ/PH
I know all rabid Giants fan would like this to be different, but I give TV a lot of forgiveness because of the human element of what I see going on. It's human to have emotional triggers, and TV spent many years building a winning college program with a transition of uprooting himself to the wild and wooly world of MLB. He's also acclimating to a new environment where the culture and rules around circle of trust are vastly different. We've all seen Buster himself make guarded comments because of his wariness of the press. I'm sure that will come with time and experience, but it's rather over simplistic to say 4 months and get over it. I don't see the comments as a reflection of TV's lack of interest in the job, but rather an emotional outburst coming from something that is understandably human.
ReplyDeleteBottom line-- if we were to put ourselves in TV shoes to move across the country and re-invent a winning culture and winning team, what is a reasonable expectation of progress?
I like this response. Thanks fella.
DeleteI like the response also 👌
DeleteDrB, it’s probably nothing to see here but he’s going to have to filter out the noise a lot better.
ReplyDeleteJust watched a great re-cap of the interaction with TV and the media from an interview with Susan Slusser (who was sitting next to TV when this happened) and FP Santangelo. Said it was weird but not bad or good. Nice take on what happened before the scrum and what may have triggered him. Another good take on the Glen Kuiper podcast as well. Both places are saying, "this is not a big deal, lets talk about baseball." This will cause TV to adjust. They are all pretty sure he is just being himself. Passionate guy, speaking what is on his mind. Likely to move on soon, but also letting the press know he is going to engage with them honestly and painfully sometimes. Pretty sure he is not playing 4-D chess.
ReplyDeleteback in the early 2000's, The University of North Carolina (my alma mater) basketball team hired Roy Williams to be head coach. He left a very successful tenure as head coach as the University of Kansas. well, for quite a while, UNC fans heard more than they wanted about Rock Chalk Jayhawk. It is simply hard to leave a successful college program - no matter how it's played, there will be some sense of betrayal. Williams went on to guide UNC to 3 National Championships and multiple final four's. Williams needed time to let go of the Kansas thing, My bet, VT is going through similar. No matter his feelings, things are about to get very real for him and the Giants, so my money is on VT buckling up and focusing on the SF Giants job at-hand. my 2 cents, natch. -es
ReplyDeleteLuis Matos, Jerar Encarnación, José Buttó, and Matt Gage are out of options.
ReplyDeleteWho is/are unlikely to make the season opener?
Buttó and Gage could get reliever spots, Matos could play an outfield backup, and Encarnación could be a pinch hittter.
Is there a realistic possibility all will suit up against the Yankees next month?
Assuming 26-man roster is split evenly, 13 pitchers and 13 position players(8 starters, 5 bench), there is a path for all 4 to make it if Bryce Eldridge starts the season in AAA. If Eldridge is on the Opening Day active roster, I don't think they can keep both Matos and Encarnacion:
DeleteBack Up Catcher: Susac/Rodriguez/Haase
Infield: Schmitt/Koss
Infield/DH: Eldridge/Encarnacion
Outfield(4): Gilbert/Brennan
Outfield(5): Matos/Encarnacion
I saw a video from someone there that pointed out Tony V had an interview right before his general press conference with a national reporter who had come out openly questioning whether a college coach was qualified to go directly to the pros. He apparently came out of that pretty worked up, and the rumor was that it was that national reporter (not Slusser or Baggs) who had jumped on writing it was a done deal. Sounds like they got into it during the previous discussion ... as someone who started out as a sports reporter, it wouldn't be surprising to hear that national columnist try to deny he was the only one who had sources saying the same thing, and possibly allude to the leak coming from a strong source close to the situation ... which would suggest a club official. Personally, I think TV learned the hard way one of the real differences in managing at the MLB level and running a college program. I'm sure it hurt him personally. The question in my mind is whether over the course of the next season or so, he'll sour on being in the pros. That could be a real concern for the Giants -- hiring someone who never experienced life at the pro level, either as a player or coach, is a quite different issue than just how he handles players and manages games.
ReplyDeleteYes, the national writer was Ken Rosenthal. In his comments, Tony alluded to "somebody" sending out a tweet. Per my recollection it was actually Baggs who broke the story and he's the one who sent the tweet. Baggs is rumored to be close to Buster Posey himself. When you add in Tony's comment about it could have changed history if he knew the source, you have to wonder if his ire is directed at his boss, which if that is the case it could be a problem unless Tony is willing to forgive and forget now that he's "cleared the air."
DeleteLet’s hope this episode fades away quickly and the Giants get off to a good start to the season. Meanwhile, check out mlb.com for an encouraging article about Tony V and his influence on Garrett Crochet.
ReplyDeleteBraves sign Dominic Smith to minor league contract.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with Atlanta and former Giants? YtY and Dubon are penciled in to starting roles this season with Brett Wisely in a backup infield role.
Luke Jackson and Jorge Soler have come and gone recently.
Are the Braves actually better than the Giants?
DeleteTheir projected SPs are already down 2 to start the season, plus there are questions. Atlanta Today headlines "Braves Need Spencer Strider to Regain Top Form Amid Rotation Injuries"
(https://nationaltoday.com/us/ga/atlanta/news/2026/02/19/braves-need-spencer-strider-to-regain-top-form-amid-rotation-injuries/)
They do have Acuña Jr backed by several solid batters but there, too, injuries linger.
Like the Giants, they have 2 "better" team is their division to contend with, although the NL West has 4 possible contenders.
Interesting, Doc ... TV also was caught during a live interview at the winter meetings grousing about why he had to be there ... I hope this doesn't turn out to be a personal thing between Buster's management style and how TV prefers to work. As long as it doesn't get petty between the two, though, I'm still pulling for TV. He seems like a personable and capable guy.
ReplyDeleteTony Vitello reported to the Director of Athletics who reported directly to the Chancellor of the University.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the team was doing at mostly good, without scandals, he had life time security.
For the Giants, it's just Buster "above" him, but he has an additional requirement beyond winning: make money.
At Tennessee, Vitello could recruit just about any high schooler he wanted.
In MLB he does not have that role: he must win with what Buster can get for him within financial constraints.
Plus, MLB players are exposed to having to play 6 or 7 games a week for six months and pitchers start every 5th day, not every 7th.
Vitello won't have any impressionable 18-21 year olds looking up to him.
Gotta hand it to Buster: he wasn't afraid to roll the dice.
If this doesn't work out, he's still an Owner, worth an estimated more than $100 million! (Per Google A.I.)
The Giants are tied for 19th in the odds to win the World Series (Pinnacle) and are 9th in SI playoff prediction, which is certainly manageable: they only have to beat out 3 of the 8 teams "above" them.