SF Giants may have another Gabe Kapler on their hands in Tony Vitello

The SF Giants have a new manager in Tony Vitello. He is a big personality and everyone is sure to have an opinion about the guy which is why he is shaping up to be yet another Gabe Kapler for the Giants.

Obviously, Vitello and Kapler are different people with different personalities, but like Kapler, Vitello has the potential to be divisive amongst the fanbase. He is a fiery guy who carries the albatross around his neck of never having been involved in professional baseball which is going to rub some fans the wrong way right off the start.

SF Giants may have another divisive manager on their hands in Tony Vitello

Just from his lengthy farewell message to the University of Tennessee you can get a sense of what people like about the guy and also what could easily become grating and annoying. The humor and charisma was on full display which could seem fake to some but to others can come across as genuine. The sheer length of it could signal to some an air of egotism and self-importance but it could also be interpreted as a really heartfelt goodbye to a place that is very important to him.

Then there are the videos online of him getting into it with umpires or jumping head-first into the stands with the fans. That is stuff that will excite some fans who want some fire out of a manager but could also come off as grossly out of place in the major leagues where his hot-headedness could be seen as immature especially over the course of a 162-game season.

Vitello seems like a sort of baseball version of Jim Harbaugh. He has that crazy college coach energy and can get his players to run through a brick wall for him which is great when things are going good and the team is winning, but when things go bad the schtick can get old really quick. Harbaugh was able to make the transition from the college ranks to the pros quite successfully which remains to be seen with Vitello.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey understands the risk he is taking on Vitello. He knows that if the Giants win and make the playoffs under his leadership, many fans currently on the fence will embrace him. On the flip side, if the team struggles and this bold experiment does not pan out then it would be an embarrassment that would be difficult to come back from and could even potentially stain his sterling reputation among Giants fans.

Not many people were complaining about Kapler when the team won 107 games in 2021, but just two years later he was gone. Guys like Kapler and Vitello can burn very brightly but can also cool off just as quickly. If the results are there, Vitello will be seen as a hero but the minute the team starts to go south his detractors will have the pitchforks out calling for his firing.

In short, it's a big risk but maybe that is what the Giants need right now.