Buster Posey's new role may guarantee who the next SF Giants manager will be

The SF Giants hired Buster Posey as their new president of baseball operations. This move will have many implications for many years, but it may mean that current first base coach Mark Hallberg will be the next manager of the Giants.

At Buster's introductory press conference, he gave his full support for manager Bob Melvin and his coaching staff. He made it clear that he has a ton of respect for Melvin as a manager and thinks he is the right guy at the helm.

However, the results on the field the last few years for Melvin say otherwise. As manager of the San Diego Padres, he led the team to the NLCS in 2022 and a record of 89-73, but followed that up in 2023 with a record of 82-80, missing out on the playoffs despite having a very talented roster.

Buster Posey hire could mean Mark Hallberg will be the next manager of the SF Giants

Then in 2024 as manager of the Giants the team had a record of 80-82 which was a disappointment after all of the moves made in the offseason. This is not all Melvin's fault, but he certainly made questionable decisions at times. It also does not reflect well on Melvin that the Padres posted a record of 93-69 and looked very solid in their defeat of the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card round.

We know that Melvin is only under contract through 2025, so if next season is another disappointment where the Giants finish below .500 and miss the playoffs, there is a good chance Melvin will be gone.

If he is, an obvious replacement would be the first base coach of the Giants Mark Hallberg. Posey and Hallberg are good friends dating back to their time in college at Florida State University. Posey would not just give Hallberg the job because they are friends, but you could make a valid case for why Hallberg makes sense on paper.

If 2025 is another disappointing season for the Giants, one can reasonably make the case that the 62-year-old Melvin is not connecting with the clubhouse. He may be well respected, but he may simply not be getting the best out of his club.

At 38 years old, Hallberg may be better able to connect with the clubhouse and relate more to the players. Plus, Posey would likely see an extension of himself in the dugout which may be something he wants if Melvin delivers another disappointing year. It is also worth noting that the Giants interviewed Hallberg for the managerial role last offseason before ultimately giving the job to Melvin.

Of course, the Giants could turn things around next year and Melvin could remain the manager for the rest of the decade. But if things start to go south and Melvin gets let go, Hallberg seems like a good bet to replace him.