Rafael Devers’ insubordinate act is evidence Tony Vitello is losing Giants’ clubhouse

At the end of the SF Giants' loss on Sunday to the Miami Marlins, completing a rough three-game series sweep, Rafael Devers was openly insubordinate when manager Tony Vitello tried to remove him from the game in favor of pinch runner Jonah Cox.

Devers tried to wave Cox off and even wagged his finger at Cox. It was a terrible look and eventually Devers came out of the game but he was clearly not pleased about it.

Vitello was asked about the incident after the game and he tried to downplay it, basically saying that Devers is a competitive guy who wanted to stay in the game but he has to know that challenge to his authority was a terrible look and can only lead one to think that he's losing the clubhouse.

Of course, one might wonder whether he ever had the clubhouse in the first place. He's a rookie manager coming straight from the college ranks. The only way he was ever going to win over the veterans on team was by winning games. He has not done that. The team is now 31-46 on the season. There's a reason people plugged into the team have speculated he may not make it through this season.

There really isn't any reason to respect Vitello. The team's dreadful record is not entirely his fault and he was given an awful pitching staff by the front office but has he really done anything to command the respect of the clubhouse?

Vitello's Giants have been an abject failure this season

It's tough to get respect when the results on the field have been so bad. No one knows for sure what is happening behind the scenes but from the outside looking in this looks like a bunch of guys playing for themselves rather than playing as a team which is about as damning a thing you can say about a manager. His one job is to get the 26 guys in that clubhouse to play as one unit. It's far easier said than done but he has failed at it.

Of course, one could argue that this is just more evidence of Devers acting up. He made a big stink in Boston when the Red Sox asked him to play first base so maybe this is just another instance of him being unhappy with where he's at and acting out as a result.

Maybe both things can be true. The clubhouse is probably not fully behind Vitello and Devers is a guy who just causes problems wherever he goes. Whatever the case is, the Giants have a lot of decisions to make with the trade deadline coming up soon and this team continuing to embarrass itself in new ways.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow