Former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello has made a splash hire to his inaugural San Fransisco Giants coaching staff. The Giants are finalizing a deal to bring Ron Washington onto Vitello’s staff as the franchise’s major league infield coach, the USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported on Thursday.
Washington is a longtime professional baseball coach and somewhat of a folk legend amongst MLB fans. The 73-year old spent the last two years as the Los Angeles Angels manager before the franchise fired him earlier this offseason. He was also previously the Texas Rangers manager from 2007-14, leading the Rangers to the World Series in both 2010 and 2011.
While Washington has two stints as a big league manager, the vast majority of his coaching career have been in assistant positions. Washington was in the Bay Area with the Oakland Athletics from 1996-2006 which led to his portrayal in the hit film Moneyball.
More From RTI: What Josh Elander Said About Hiring Josh Reynolds As New Tennessee Pitching Coach
After his stint with the Rangers, Washington spent 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Athletics before coming to the southeast where he was an assistant coach for the Atlanta Braves from 2017-223.
Washington brings two important things to Vitello and San Fransisco. First, he’s an elite infield coach who will certainly excel in his role. Secondly, he is a veteran with managerial experience which Vitello will be able to lean on as he learns the differences between college and professional baseball. He has also retained three coaches who were on the Giants’ staff last season.
Vitello has put much of his Giants’ coaching staff together. San Fransisco hired the Milwaukee Brewers Justin Meccage as its new pitching coach. Vitello brought Tennessee pitching coach Frank Anderson with him as an assistant pitching coach. He also brought Tennessee’s Quentin Eberhardt with him as Director of Player Performance.
