San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy has announced that the 2019 baseball season will be his last. Bochy plans to retire at season’s end and step away from the game. That’s sparked the conversation for who will take over and as a result, BetDSI Sportsbook has posted betting lines on who will be the next Giants manager come Opening Day 2020:
San Francisco Giants Manager on Opening Day 2020
Matt Williams +200
Eric Chavez +250
Mike Matheny +350
Omar Vizquel +500
Ron Wotus +500
Hensley Meulens +500
Sandy Alomar +750
Carlos Beltran +800
Dusty Baker +1000
Will Clark +1000
Joe Girardi +1500
Buck Showalter +1500
Barry Bonds +2000
Gary Pettis +2000
Lloyd McClendon +2000
Dave Stewart +2000
Chili Davis +2000
Eric Byrnes +5000
Randy Johnson +5000
Mark McGwire +7500
Rickey Henderson +10000
Buster Posey (player-manager) +10000
Tony La Russa +20000
Brian Kenny +20000
Mike Krukow +20000
Duane Kuiper +20000
Jon Miller +50000
Jose Canseco +100000
Pete Rose +100000
Matt Williams
The first name at the top of the board is Matt Williams, who is a former first-round pick of the Giants. Williams contributed quite a bit to the franchise, playing in four All-Star games, winning three Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers in a 10-year span.
Williams has also earned accolades as a manager too, being named 2014 National League Manager of the Year with the Washington Nationals and even compiled a respectable 179-145 record in his two seasons with them. The issue is that he was badly outcoached in the playoffs in 2014 and the team basically quit on him in the second half of the 2015 season.
He’s now the third-base coach with the Oakland Athletics but given his history with the franchise, he’d likely get a good look.
Eric Chavez
Chavez has already been thrown around as the name of an up-and-comer who will be a manager one day. He’s just 41 years old and currently works as a special assistant to Los Angeles Angels General Manager Billy Epler. The fact that he’s in the front office and not on the field works against him. However, he was rumored to be the next Angels manager before they opted for Brad Ausmus.
Chavez is likely a longer shot than the odds suggest.
Bam Bam Meulens, Ron Wotus
Although Hensley Meulens and Ron Wotus may not be familiar names to everyone, they are names that are known quite well inside the Giants organization. If the team is to hire from inside, one of these two is likely to get a shot at the job.
Meulens is currently the team’s bench coach. He was moved from hitting coach to bench boss in 2017 and a few insiders like Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Grant Busbee of The McCovey Cove Chronicles believed that that move was to groom him to become the next manager. The Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds previously interviewed him for their openings.
As for Wotus, he is the third-base coach. The 58-year-old has seemingly been overlooked for the job a couple of times as he’s been with the organization from 1999. He was their bench coach from 1999-2017 before Meulens replaced him, so while he has a shot, he seems like he’s now behind Meulens in the pecking order.
The main question here is whether the Giants want to clean house or hire from within. Much of that will likely be based on how the team performs in 2019.
Bob Geren
One man who is not on the list but could get a look is Geren. He’s currently the Dodgers bench coach so he’s a known commodity. Remember that Farhan Zaidi, who is the President of Baseball Operations with the Giants, was the Dodgers General Manager into 2018. Zaidi had him on his short list back in 2015, so it’s possible the Giants give him the keys in 2020. Another good season from the Dodgers could make Geren an attractive candidate.
