SF Giants coaching news: Pat Burrell, Garvin Alston, and Ryan Christenson

New SF Giants manager Tony Vitello has made the first hire to his coaching staff, but several familiar faces will not return.

SF Giants coaching news: Pat Burrell, Garvin Alston, and Ryan Christenson

What is Pat Burrell's next step?

Pat Burrell has served as the team's hitting coach for the past two seasons, but that sounds like it will be changing. He told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he is unsure of what his role will be going forward, but plans to stay in the organization.

Before becoming the team's hitting coach, he worked in a variety of roles in the organization. This includes a brief stint as the hitting coach for the San Jose Giants. In addition to that, he served as an advisor to the front office and was a trusted person by both Brian Sabean and Farhan Zaidi. Burrell grew up in the Bay Area and spent his final two seasons with San Francisco before his playing career concluded in 2011.

With Vitello taking over, he will want to build out his own coaching staff and have some fresh voices on the hitting side. In a separate article, Slusser also confirms that assistant hitting coach Damon Minor will not return. He just completed his first season on the Giants' coaching staff after spending years in Triple-A as the hitting coach.

Garvin Alston will not return as bullpen coach

On Friday, Slusser also reported that Garvin Alston will not be returning to the coaching staff. He had served as the bullpen coach for the past two years.

Alston has extensive coaching experience and should have no problem finding a new role. He worked as a pitching coach and coordinator in the A's organization for years. Alston became the Minnesota Twins' pitching coach in 2018, but was not retained when Rocco Baldelli took over as manager. He also worked as the pitching coach for the Sacramento River Cats for three seasons, and was well-regarded in that role.

Ryan Christenson returns to familiar territory

When the Giants parted ways with Bob Melvin, Ryan Christenson and Matt Williams immediately conveyed that they would not return as well. Christenson has returned to familiar territory, as the A's recently announced that he would take over as the team's first base coach.

Christenson takes over for Bobby Crosby, who is becoming the third base coach. Christenson spent three years with the A's during his six-year playing career, and worked as the bench coach for four seasons while Bob Melvin was the manager.

With the Giants, Christenson also worked as the bench coach. This role included working with the outfielders on defense and team baserunning. These areas were some of the weakest on the roster and showed little improvement during the year.