The SF Giants’ Tuesday post-mortem press conference was never likely to deliver anything dramatic, but Tony Vitello still managed to leave the biggest mark for the wrong reason.
When asked whether he believes he has control of the clubhouse, Vitello did not give the clean answer the moment called for. It should have been a simple yes or no, the kind of question that opens the door to a quick, confident pivot. Instead, he gave a lengthy response that leaned on the idea of himself as a “teammate” and even reached for a Terminator 2: Judgment Day reference.
That was the troubling part: not just that the answer was long, but that it never really landed on the question itself.
Press conferences like this usually live in a narrow lane. Teams talk about offseason priorities, mention problem areas, and leave it at that.
The Giants did follow that familiar script to a degree, with the bullpen identified as an area that needs attention and some coaching staff changes left on the table as a possibility. That kind of turnover is common enough around most staffs almost every offseason.
But this one was supposed to do more than check boxes. It was also a chance for Buster Posey, Zack Minasian, and Vitello to give fans some sense of where the organization is headed after a season that nearly reached 100 losses. Instead, it did little to build confidence.
Vitello’s answer stood out because it raised more questions than it settled. He did appear more comfortable as the season went on, but that leaves an open debate: was that a sign of real growth, or did the roster simply become a better fit for him once the team shifted from veteran-heavy to younger and less experienced?
The Giants’ collapse came so fast and so hard that by June, Vitello was managing in a season that no longer carried much in the way of expectations. That makes it difficult to measure how much he actually grew on the job. He unquestionably learned plenty in his first year, but whether that translates into meaningful development as a manager remains an open question.
There is also the perception, noted by Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic through conversations with people inside and outside the organization, that Vitello was too deferential to veteran players. His handling of Willy Adames fit that view.
Adames kept playing through a back injury, even as it hurt the team, and insisted he was healthy enough to stay in the lineup. Vitello had trouble getting him even one day off.
A firmer approach there might have helped. Instead, the conversation never happened, and the 29-year-old infielder kept going until an elbow strain ended his season.
The Giants were never going to say anything Tuesday that would erase the damage of the year they just had. But Vitello was handed a soft question and still didn’t make contact.
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