Buster Posey May Already Have Next San Francisco Giants Manager Lined Up

Does Buster Posey already have a replacement in mind for Bob Melvin?

Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are about to enter a new era of baseball in the Bay Area with the firing of Farhan Zaidi and subsequent hiring of franchise legend Buster Posey as president of baseball operations.

In the five years since former manager Bruce Bochy announced his retirement after 13 seasons, it has been a turbulent and volatile period for the team. Outside of the phenomenal 107-win 2021 season in Gabe Kapler's first full year as the manager, the team has hovered right around the 80 win mark and has now missed the playoffs for the third year in a row. After the arrival of Bob Melvin in 2024, San Francisco upped the win total by just one and were again not close to the postseason.

Now that Posey is the one calling the shots, it's possible that Melvin won't have an large amount of grace as is often the case across all sports with managers and coaches who were not hired by the current decision maker. That along with the fact that Melvin is only actually under contract through next season combine for what feels like a potentially quick ending to his tenure with the Giants. Nick San Miguel of Around the Foghorn thinks that Posey may already have Melvin's replacement in mind if the team underachieves once again in 2025, and it's someone who is already in the organization that Posey knows very well.

"An obvious replacement would be the first base coach of the Giants Mark Hallberg," San Miguel wrote. "Posey and Hallberg are good friends dating back to their time in college at Florida State University. Posey would not just give Hallberg the job because they are friends, but you could make a valid case for why Hallberg makes sense on paper...At 38 years old, Hallberg may be better able to connect with the clubhouse and relate more to the players. Plus, Posey would likely see an extension of himself in the dugout which may be something he wants if Melvin delivers another disappointing year."

San Miguel went on to say that Melvin could very well produce a great season in 2025 and remain the manager for the long haul, which certainly is not out of the realm of possibility. Melvin is a seasoned veteran who has won nearly 1,600 games as a manager and knows how to take a team to the postseason.

But with an expiring contract, a boss that did not hire him, and already one lackluster season under his belt, signs point to Melvin not being the team's manager in 2026.

If that is indeed the case, Hallberg absolutely makes a lot of sense as a potential successor.