SF Giants missed clear opportunity to bring back Bochy and still build for future

As the SF Giants search for a new manager, president of baseball operations Buster Posey has made it clear he does not envision Bruce Bochy coming back as skipper. That is a shame because Posey had a great opportunity to try to win now while still building for the future.

One can understand Posey's rationale for not wanting to bring back Bochy even though they have a storied history together and the opportunity presented itself with Texas moving on from him. Bochy is 70 and is not going to be around for the long haul, so Posey likely wants a candidate who could potentially be with the team for over a decade like Bochy was.

SF Giants miss great chance to build for the future while also providing nostalgia hit

However, it now seems like a real possibility that the Giants could hire a first-time manager. There are benefits to bringing in fresh blood, but there are inevitably going to be bumps in the road and lessons learned that would not need to be learned by an experienced hand like Bochy.

Why wouldn't the Giants have hired Bochy as manager while also identifying a natural successor and making them the bench coach? This sort of approach would have brought the best manager in baseball back to the Giants to try and help put a roster with talent on it over the top while also grooming the person who would end up replacing Bochy in a couple of years.

This dual-tracked approach would have excited nostalgia-oriented fans who want the restoration of Camelot from those glorious years in the early 2010's while also signaling to fans who want the Giants to move on and stop playing the hits that the team is considering the future as well.

Imagine if the Giants hired Bochy as the manager and then picked someone like Nick Hundley, who may end up being the manager himself, or Mark Hallberg as the bench coach. Someone young who could have a front-row seat to one of the best managers of all time and learn from him and pick his brain before taking the reins themselves.

Instead, the Giants are probably going to roll the dice on someone green. Maybe it will turn out great like in Cleveland with Stephen Vogt, but it could also blow up in Posey's face.

Perhaps the Giants need the infusion of youth and energy that a first-time manager would bring and after four straight seasons of mediocrity it may be time to try something different.

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