World Series-winning manager calls SF Giants Tony Vitello hire 'insulting'

The SF Giants hiring manager Tony Vitello sparked a lot of strong feelings, but no one has spoken out quite as forcefully as former MLB manager Joe Maddon. He just said that the Vitello hiring is "insulting" which is sure to spark some controversy.

Maddon, who was the manager of the Chicago Cubs in 2016 when the Cubs won their first World Series title in over 100 years, appeared on KNBR and made his thoughts on Vitello's hiring very clear:

“Well, quite frankly, I'm using the word insulting only from the perspective that it appears as though you don't have to have any kind of experience on a professional level to do this job anymore. Because when I was coming up, you had to have all that. You had to go through the minor leagues, you had to ride your buses.

"I was a scout, I started in 1981, I finally got a managerial job in 2006. I mean, there was a rite of passage, a method to get to that point. So to think that somebody could just jump in there and do what you took 20 some years to be considered qualified to do, it is kind of insulting.”

Joe Maddon says SF Giants hiring Tony Vitello was "insulting"

Maddon went on to say that he wishes Vitello nothing but the best and hopes he is successful in the job. He said he had not really heard of him before he was hired, but after learning a bit more about him and seeing some clips of him he liked him.

The longtime MLB manager also said he sees some old school elements to Vitello and said that he seems to be a really good communicator. He said he understands Buster Posey's vision with this move and made is clear that he wishes Vitello and the Giants nothing but the best.

On the one hand, it is understandable that Maddon's knee-jerk reaction to Vitello's hire would be that it is insulting. He spent many years as a manager with the Los Angeles Angels, Cubs, and Tampa Bay Rays and certainly paid his dues before his days as a manager. He has also not been afraid to speak his mind on what he feels is wrong with baseball these.

Yet, Vitello pushed back on the idea that he had not paid his dues before being hired as an MLB manager. He noted that many long nights and bus rides have accompanied his coaching career even though it has been entirely in the collegiate ranks.

We still do not know how the Vitello hire will turn out. His coaching staff is still coming into shape and how that staff performs could determine how successful he is. Some people certainly think he will be successful in this role but the truth is no one knows for sure.

There are probably a lot of old-school baseball types like Maddon who feel the same way that he does about Vitello's hiring even if they would not publicly admit it. Vitello may have a lot of those types cheering for his downfall as he tries to prove that his unorthodox experience is transferrable to professional baseball.