Giants' Tony Vitello safe for 2027 despite disappointing first season, says Buster Posey: 'Done a nice job'

The Giants head into the last day of August on pace for a 96-loss season Aug 31, 2026 at 9:39 am ET • 2 min read Things this season have not gone swimmingly for the Giants and first-year manager Tony Vitello, who made the unprecedented leap from the college head coaching ranks to the MLB dugout. Despite some embarrassing moments early in Vitello's tenure and disappointing on-field results, the Giants plan on bringing their manager back for 2027, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. President of baseball operations Buster Posey, in fact, told the Chronicle that he has "explicitly" told Vitello that he'll be back in the Giants dugout for the 2027 season. However, what may be a bit less certain is whether Vitello wants to return to his post for next season. "Obviously, he's his own man," Posey said, via the Chronicle. "I haven't felt once in any conversation that we've had that there's any thoughts about jumping ship. All of our conversations are future-oriented, like, 'What do we have to do to get this right?' So if he wasn't (returning), it would come as a surprise to me."Vitello signed a three-year contract with a vesting option for 2029 last offseason after the Giants bought out his contract from the University of Tennessee."When you get somewhere, you always want to leave it better," Vitello told the Chronicle, "and I'm personally willing to go through hell or high water to do that." For now, though, the focus is on improving upon what's happened thus far in 2027. Vitello and the Giants enter the final day of August with a record of 56-81, which puts the club on pace for a 96-loss campaign. That would be the Giants' worst season since 2017, and they'd be in danger of recording just the second 100-loss season in franchise history. Not surprisingly, the Giants this season have struggled to put runs on the board (they're 25th in MLB in runs scored) and keep runs off of it (they're 20th in runs allowed). The Giants haven't qualified for the postseason since 2021, but until this season, they've loitered at or near the .500 mark during that stretch. The 2026 campaign has introduced new depths.And still, Posey is comfortable moving forward."I'll speak for myself," Posey said, "I think the coaching staff's done a nice job. It's always a hard thing because people are like, 'Well, you're 25-games or whatever under, how can you say they did a nice job?' But I'm watching them every day and the work that they're putting in, some of the improvements that (players) are making; from my vantage point, they've done a nice job." Looking ahead, the Giants do have one of the better farm systems in the game right now, but that's not the sort of organizational strength that tends to yield immediate results. Will Vitello be around to reap the benefits when (and if) those young talents are ready to thrive at the highest level of baseball? That's an open question, even if Vitello's status for 2027 appears to be answered.