For the third time in as many years, the San Francisco Giants – the paragon of stability a decade ago – are making a change in either the dugout or the executive branch.
Their Sept. 29 firing of manager Bob Melvin came one year after the elevation of franchise legend and future Hall of Famer Buster Posey to the perch of baseball operations president, supplanting Farhan Zaidi.
And that came one year after Zaidi fired his hand-picked manager, Gabe Kapler, two years after the duo shepherded the club to a franchise-record 107 wins.
Since then, mediocrity has taken up permanent residence at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
After four seasons of numbing, non-descript performance – 81-81 giving way to 79-83, 80-82 and another beautifully symmetrical 81-81 – who can bring stability and prosperity back?
A look at four managerial candidates Posey could consider:
Bruce Bochy
Well, if you’re going to take a shot of nostalgia, might as well finish the bottle.
Zaidi’s frenetic roster management had old heads yearning for the glory days in San Francisco, to the point the greatest Giant of their 2012, ’14 and ’16 clubs now runs the joint.
Posey persuaded ownership to make significant capital investments in this team – namely, the $182 million given shortstop Willy Adames and the more than $200 million in salary assumed in the blockbuster Rafael Devers trade. It wouldn’t be a hard sell to suggest Bochy – one of the few managers still out there worth a handful of extra wins a year – could put them over the top.
Bochy is now 70, his contract with the Texas Rangers expired two years after adding a fourth ring to his collection and the first Commissioners’ Trophy to the Rangers’ case. Simply, the man may never retire – and now, he has options.
Craig Albernaz
His roots run fairly deep in the Giants’ recent history, as the bullpen and catching coach from 2019-23, a span that covers the end of Posey’s playing career as well as the start of current catcher Patrick Bailey’s. Of greater import, Albernaz, 42, racked up two years of dugout experience in the well-respected Cleveland organization, as Stephen Vogt’s bench coach in 2024 and then “associate manager” this season, a nice bit of title inflation that kept him in Cleveland.
Of greater note, Albernaz is well-regarded by three solid baseball operations departments – Tampa Bay, Cleveland and San Francisco – yet also has the combo of baseball smarts and everyman sensibilities that take him far beyond simply another quant in a uniform.
Brandon Hyde
Of the four managers fired in-season, Hyde may be the most well-regarded among baseball officials. He rode out the storm of a brutal rebuild in Baltimore to produce 101- and 91-win seasons and a pair of playoff berths.
Hyde, 51, is a Santa Rosa native familiar with the Bay Area market, and has significant dugout experience with the Marlins, Chicago Cubs (where he ascended to bench coach) and the Orioles, where he lasted nearly seven seasons as manager. There’s often a significant improvement for managers the second time around, and Hyde’s floor is already pretty high.
Skip Schumaker
Take a number.
Schumaker has been biding his time since leaving the Miami Marlins after last season, chilling out in an advisory role with the Rangers. Now, he may have his pick of several jobs.
Kind of interesting how he was seen as an heir apparent to Bochy in Texas, yet now his future may remain at least partially tied to the future Hall of Fame skipper’s plans. With superstar infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien bit by injury (and, in Semien’s case, significant underperformance for the first half), the future in Texas may not look as rosy.
From Schumaker’s perspective, San Francisco would offer ownership that still has money to spend and a very hungry club president willing to be bold and aggressive. Can Texas, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota or any of the half-dozen other potential job openings say the same?