Trailblazing San Francisco Giants Coach Takes New Job With AL Franchise

The San Francisco Giants lost another coach on Friday, this one a trailblazer in the game who had worked for the team for five years.

Feb 16, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants major league assistant coach Alyssa Nakken (92) looks on during a Spring Training workout at Scottsdale Stadium. / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are losing one of their top coaches, Alyssa Nakken, to the Cleveland Guardians for the 2025 season, the team announced on Friday.

The San Francisco Chronicle originally reported the news on Thursday.  

Nakken was a trailblazer in baseball for women, as she became the first full-time female coach in Major League history. She had spent five years with the Giants before her move to Cleveland, where she will serve in a player development role.

Two former Giants coaches work in Cleveland — Craig Albernaz and Kai Correa.

The Giants released a statement about Nakken after the move was official.

"We thank Alyssa Nakken for her incredible contributions to the San Francisco Giants and for trailblazing a path for women in sports," read the statement. "Her leadership, dedication, and passion for the game have inspired countless individuals, and her impact has been truly transformative for the Giants organization and the baseball community. As she embarks on this exciting new chapter in her career, we have no doubt that she’ll continue to inspire and achieve great things. We wish her and her family nothing but the best."

Nakken was officially hired in 2020 by then-manager Gabe Kapler to be an assistant coach on his staff. At the time, no woman was serving in a full-time capacity on any Major League coaching staff.

Most of her tenure she worked primarily with outfielders and coached players on base running. But she also became the first woman to serve as an on-field coach in a game on April 12, 2022, when she coached first base after then-first base coach Antoan Richardson was ejected from a game.

Nakken also interviewed for the open managerial job after the 2023 season, which ultimately went to Bob Melvin. Nakken remained on the staff.

Before she moved into coaching, she joined the Giants baseball operations department as an intern in 2014, supporting their health and wellness programs. After getting her master's degree from the University of San Francisco in 2015, she stayed on with USF as their chief information officer to the baseball team before re-joining the Giants.

The Woodland, Calif., native played three different sports in high school and then played her college softball at Sacramento State, where she was named all-Pacific Coast Softball Conference all four years as a first baseman.

It's just another change for an organization under new leadership as former catcher Buster Posey was named president of baseball operations after the offseason.