Buster Posey passing on Bruce Bochy may come back to bite SF Giants in a big way

When the SF Giants fired manager Bob Melvin, there was instant speculation that a reunion with Bruce Bochy could be in the cards. Buster Posey has ruled out Bochy returning as manager, but with the San Diego Padres now needing a new manager a nightmare scenario could unfold.

Padres manager Mike Shildt has decided to retire which could create a problem for the Giants in a few different ways. Nick Hundley is the reported frontrunner for the job in San Francisco, but he has ties to the Padres so if the Giants want him as their guy they may need to act quickly.

SF Giants may have created a nightmare scenario with Bruce Bochy and the Padres

Even if the Giants are able to hire Hundley, the opening in San Diego already seems like it could be appetizing for Bochy. USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale threw out Bochy's name as a potential replacement for Shildt.

Bochy was the manager of the Padres from 1995 to 2006 and led San Diego to four playoff appearances including one of only two World Series appearances in the history of the franchise. He also played for the Padres as a catcher from 1983 to 1987 and was part of the 1984 team that made it to the World Series.

San Diego clearly has a roster talented enough to make a playoff run. The team won 93 games in 2024 and forced a five-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. This season the team won 90 games and remained competitive with the Dodgers in the NL West for much of the season before getting bounced in the Wild Card round by the Chicago Cubs.

The Padres are a team at the precipice desperate to get over the hump and win the first World Series in franchise history. Bringing back Bochy, a guy with four World Series rings as a manager who has proven to be the best playoff manager in baseball in the last 15 years who also has deep ties to the organization, makes almost too much sense.

If Bochy is hired as the next manager of the Padres, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey will definitely be feeling the pressure. He clearly wants a younger, more energetic manager but if Bochy goes back to San Diego and the Padres continue to be better than the Giants then he will have to answer questions about why he did not want Bochy back as manager.

It would be a bit of an unfair question since the Padres have a more talented roster than the Giants, but with how bad the Giants have been against division foes in recent years it certainly would not help having to go up against one of the best managers in the game 13 times a season.

It remains to be seen whether Bochy wants to keep managing or if San Diego has interest in bringing back the 70-year-old, but if Bochy does return to the Padres as manager it would be a nightmare scenario for Posey and the Giants.