SF Giants Rumors: Tony Vitello not expected to bolt back to college after 2026

It’s been a very disappointing 2026 campaign for SF Giants rookie manager Tony Vitello. One wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to bolt back to the college ranks after the season is done but it doesn’t seem like that is his plan.

In Bob Nightengale’s recent column for USA Today, he writes: “While there has been speculation that San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello is so frustrated in his new job and could return to the college ranks after the season, he insists that he’s still happy he took the job, paying him $3.5 million a year, a record for first-year managers.”

Of course, Nightengale is basing this off Vitello’s own word and even though the former University of Tennessee skipper has proven how much he likes to talk, something tells me even he has the sense to not blurt out, “You know, I kind of wish I was still at Tennessee,” to reporters even though that’s kind of what he did back in spring training.

It would be a pretty terrible look for the Giants though if Vitello left after one season. President of baseball operations Buster Posey would look foolish for hiring him, the Giants would look like an amateurish operation, and they probably wouldn’t have a ton of great candidates lining up to replace Vitello.

Vitello's future is still unclear if 2026 really goes off the rails for the Giants

But there’s still a long way to go in 2026. Every time it seems like this team has found a new rock bottom the Giants find a way to dig even deeper. The team has looked a bit better as of late after splitting a four-game series with a really good Milwaukee Brewers team and then routing the Chicago Cubs on Friday before losing a game they easily could have won Saturday with a chance to take the series on Sunday night.

Still, it’s not hard to see this thing really going off the rails in the second half. If the Giants trade off Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray, and potentially some other players, then it’s hard to see how that will make them better in the second half.

It will be a real test for Vitello, though. If he can keep the team invested enough and get them to play good baseball even if they play the second half knowing they aren’t going to make the playoffs then that could give the team a little momentum going into the offseason.

Of course, that momentum could be completely squelched by CBA negotiations which could delay the start of the 2027 season but it would at least make everyone feel a little better about running things back with Vitello for year two.

Vitello is far from the biggest thing wrong with this team. He’s made mistakes but he seems to be learning and he has had to deal with a roster that does not have a very strong starting rotation or bullpen so he’s been done no favors by the front office.

It would be pretty embarrassing if he left after just one year so Posey and the Giants have to hope they haven’t completely scared him away.

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