{"id":135,"date":"2026-05-21T19:37:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:37:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:37:59","slug":"kurtenbach-buster-poseys-immunity-makes-sf-giants-manager-tony-vitello-a-sitting-duck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Giants\u2019 director of baseball operations Buster Posey wants everyone to know that his team\u2019s putrid performance to start the season isn\u2019t the fault of first-year manager (and first-year big leaguer) Tony Vitello.<\/p>\n

Read more Sergey Brin funds opposition to San Francisco \u2018overpaid\u2019 CEO tax<\/a><\/p>\n

Posey used his bi-weekly hit on KNBR Thursday morning to fall on his sword for the team\u2019s miserable 20-30 start.<\/p>\n

Amid his empty claim that the season is still early yet and gaslighting framing that the Giants\u2019 only two options to close this season were to overpay Edwin Diaz or pray Ryan Walker returned to form, he also said it isn\u2019t fair to blame his rookie manager for this team\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand where the fans\u2019 frustrations are, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to put it all on one person. You could put it on me before Tony, in my opinion, based on how things have played out,\u201d Posey said.<\/p>\n

And you know what, he\u2019s right: It\u2019s not Vitello\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n

Though I do think it\u2019s fair to put it all on one person: Posey.<\/p>\n

But in sorta-kinda taking the blame Thursday, Posey also resurfaced one of the many fundamental flaws Giants ownership made when handing over the baseball side of the team to someone with zero experience for such a role.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t fire him.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

After all, he\u2019s part of the ownership group, too.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also a living legend with a bronze bust practically cooling in the cooperage.<\/p>\n

And that makes Posey an excellent human shield for the principal owners of the teams, of which he is in lock step about how to run their real-estate investment empire \u2014 sorry, I meant baseball team.<\/p>\n

The same cowardice and ignorance that led team CEO Greg Johnson to give Posey the job in the first place will prevent him from ever firing him.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

After all, Posey \u201cwanted the ball\u201d after the 2024 season \u2014 due process of filling the most important job in the organization be damned. Johnson didn\u2019t have the guts or vision to tell Posey \u201cno\u201d then, so why would that change now?<\/p>\n

So while it\u2019s not Vitello\u2019s fault this team stinks, if that\u2019s still the case in a few months, he will be the one sacrificed on the altar of public relations. That is how the modern front office works. That\u2019s how Posey has worked. Another knee-jerk reaction.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be easy, too. You can\u2019t fire a part owner, but you certainly can kick the manager, with their inscrutable responsibilities, to the curb.<\/p>\n

Remember: Posey hired Bob Melvin twice \u2014 once when he took over as DBO, again when he extended him last summer \u2014 but fired him after last season.<\/p>\n

The guy who built the broken car stays in the luxury suite; the guy (partially) driving it gets tossed into the bay.<\/p>\n

But Posey and his staff assembled a roster that\u2019s fundamentally flawed, horribly haphazard, and profoundly limited. This is a team built entirely from streaky, tenured veterans. It was a grand exercise in plausible deniability for a front office that operates as if the public perception comes first and the baseball later.<\/p>\n

Read more Meta settles school suit over social media addiction, averting first trial<\/a><\/p>\n

So we see a lineup that doesn\u2019t put together rallies but rather hopes for individual lightning strikes and a pitching staff of independent contractors. We see a squad that has no identity and marginal cohesion.<\/p>\n

To lead this group, Posey reached down into the collegiate ranks to hire Vitello, a guy who had zero days of Major League experience on his resume.<\/p>\n

Vitello was an incredible college coach at Tennessee. He\u2019s a fiery guy and a magnificent talker. But what\u2019s a guy straight out of the SEC going to tell Matt Chapman \u2014 with his everything-he-wanted contract (including a full no-trade clause, thanks to Posey) \u2014 about fighting through a brutal, soul-crushing slump in the show?<\/p>\n

How\u2019s he supposed to manage a bullpen without a reliable closer (or even a viable option for one) because the front office treated the ninth inning like a theory in the offseason?<\/p>\n

The inherent naivety of this setup was exposed before Memorial Day. And now it will be a massive, uphill battle just to scratch back toward the team\u2019s homeostasis of a .500 record.<\/p>\n

The structural unfairness of Vitello\u2019s job is the real crime here. Posey pops up in the media for a controlled chat once every two weeks, and he\u2019s allowed to speak in broad, protective platitudes. You have to give him deference, right? He\u2019s a legend.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Vitello, who has less experience in the big leagues than nearly all of his players, all of his staff, and most of the media, too, has to stand in front of the cameras before and after all 162 games. He has to explain why the bullpen of cast-off arms and not-ready-for-primetime players melted down again, why his generational-wealth stars aren\u2019t hitting, and why his this-will-do veterans in the rotation aren\u2019t suddenly better than their track records. He has to find a way to play Bryce Eldridge, called up by the front office, ostensively to prevent fans from booing after a winless road trip, despite there being no opening for him on the roster \u2014 heaven forbid someone with tenure sits for a day.<\/p>\n

Yes, he has to defend how he, a novice, played his hand, even though the deck was stacked against him before he ever walked into the dugout.<\/p>\n

To be clear: Vitello\u2019s tactical blunders have been real, but they\u2019re the symptoms of the disease, not the cause. The disease is an ownership group that thought star power in the executive suite could manifest or even replace competent roster construction on the field.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not advocating for Vitello to be fired. Far from it. He was put in an impossible situation by an executive who gets to learn the job on the fly with total immunity.<\/p>\n

Vitello should be afforded the same opportunity. I doubt he\u2019ll receive it.<\/p>\n

So if Tony V gets the axe at the end of the year, it won\u2019t be because he failed. It\u2019ll be penance for his boss\u2019s sins.<\/p>\n

Because, as Jed York once smugly said: \u201cYou don\u2019t dismiss owners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Posey can claim the blame on the radio all he wants, but without a massive turnaround, the manager \u2014 the guy without equity in this big little corporation \u2014 will pay the bill.<\/p>\n

Read more This is the creepiest strip mall in San Jose, according to \u2018Backrooms\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 20-30 start means the blame game is well underway in the Bay, but the game is rigged against Tony Vitello.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 20-30 start means the blame game is well underway in the Bay, but the game is rigged against Tony Vitello.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T19:37:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T19:37:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135\"},\"wordCount\":1122,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135\",\"name\":\"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T19:37:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=135#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck - Next City Digest","og_description":"A 20-30 start means the blame game is well underway in the Bay, but the game is rigged against Tony Vitello.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-21T19:37:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck","datePublished":"2026-05-21T19:37:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135"},"wordCount":1122,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135","name":"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-21T19:37:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b60939b29373c8718a9b679847eb9289.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=135#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kurtenbach: Buster Posey\u2019s immunity makes SF Giants manager Tony Vitello a sitting duck"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}