SF Giants just got a big boost to their infield defense with latest reported hire

News broke on Thursday that the SF Giants are close to hiring longtime big league manager Ron Washington as their infield coach. This move brings in an established voice who can help new manager Tony Vitello out in a big way.

This news came via Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Giants general manager Zack Minasian confirmed the reporting on KNBR Thursday morning.

Washington most recently served as manager of the Los Angeles Angels for the last two seasons and before that he was the manager of the Texas Rangers. Giants fans will remember that Washington was the skipper in Texas during the 2010 World Series.

SF Giants get boost to infield defense with Ron Washington

Washington also had multiple stints as an infield coach with the Oakland Athletics and gained some notoriety from the book Moneyball for his role in helping A's infielders get up to speed at certain positions that they were inexperienced at like Scott Hatteberg at first base.

That is great experience to have coming into a role with the Giants because San Francisco currently has two infielders who could progress a little more at first base. Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge both showed promise at first base in 2025, but having a resource like Washington at their disposal could help them take that next step and become very solid first basemen.

Not only will this move give San Francisco a boost on defense, but it also provides another valuable resource for Vitello to lean upon as he learns the ropes of being a big league manager.

From Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker, two guys who Vitello gave a shout out to in his opening press conference, to Washington and Jayce Tingler, Vitello is going to have a lot of former big league managers in his corner who will help him make this transition.

It is smart that the Giants have surrounded Vitello with so many experienced voices so he does not feel like he is embarking on this experiment completely blind. There are going to be bumps in the road and when there are he will have no shortage of options if he needs advice.

The hiring of Washington also seems to be in step with a goal president of baseball operations Buster Posey has laid out to get better defensively. The Giants were far too sloppy on defense last season and their additions of above-average outfield defenders like Justin Dean and Joey Wiemer along with the addition of Washington as a coach all seem to be steps in the right direction to clean things up defensively.

Vitello's coaching staff is coming into greater focus now and it is nice to see he will have a lot of experienced voices at his disposal.