Brian Sabean's plea for SF Giants to have patience with Tony Vitello may fall on deaf ears

Legendary former SF Giants general manager Brian Sabean appeared on KNBR on Thursday. He made a plea for patience with regard to Giants manager Tony Vitello, but that plea may fall on deaf ears with a Giants fanbase that is starved for a winner.

Here is what Sabean had to say about Vitello: “Let's give this young man a real chance, the three years he richly deserves... While this is out of the box, this guy does have a lot of experience at a high level. Let's see what happens in three years."

Sabean preaches patience with Vitello but it may not be given

It’s a fair point and refreshing to hear from Sabean. Some other old-school baseball types were not as bullish on Vitello during the offseason so it’s nice to hear someone of the old guard advocating for patience in a world where immediate results are often demanded.

The unfortunate thing is that many Giants fans have run out of patience. The team has made the playoffs just twice since Sabean was at the helm and helped lead the team to three World Series titles in five season. The Giants haven’t played a playoff game since 2021.

Vitello was not hired in the name of patience. He was hired because president of baseball operations Buster Posey felt he was the missing piece the team needed to reach the next level as an organization. 

Looking back, it was always a bit fanciful to think a coach could come from the college ranks and immediately get a team with a .500 roster on paper to the playoffs. For fans of the San Francisco 49ers, hiring Vitello could be like when the Niners hired Jim Harbaugh and he made the team a contender in his first season. It could also be like when the 49ers hired Jim Tomsula and he was completely out of his depth and the team fired him after one terrible season.

Vitello's fate is still unclear, but Sabean is right that he deserves some time to work things out. There have been signs of inexperience. Whether it’s scrutiny over calls to the bullpen or maybe talking a bit too much in his postgame pressers he is still very much green, but he should be given a chance to grow into the role.

Vitello is not the reason the Giants are currently at 18-25 on the season. The roster as constructed has definite flaws and key players have not played up to expectations. That doesn’t fall on Vitello, it falls on people above him in the organization.

Thinking the Giants make the playoffs this year is a bit of a long shot, but maybe this could be something of a gap year in which Vitello learns the ropes, gains the trust of his players, and the team comes back next year in a better place. The only problem is fans have been hearing that same thing for years and the mediocrity has continued so patience is absolutely wearing thin.

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