SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in the last three years, the Giants will be searching for a new manager.
The Giants announced on Monday morning that they have fired manager Bob Melvin, marking three consecutive years in which teh team has fired someone in a prominent leadership role.
“When seasons don’t go the way you want them, it’s never one person’s fault. It’s never one group’s fault,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey on Monday. “But when they don’t go the way you want them, you can’t, in my opinion, sit there and say, ‘We’re going to come back and do the same thing that we did this year for the next year. Having said that, that’s part of why we landed where we landed.”
So, who will Posey select as Melvin’s successor? Posey said on Monday that he’s “pretty open” and already has candidates in mind, adding that there is no set timetable on hiring a manger. He also plans on drawing his from experiences with former managers Bruce Bochy and Gabe Kapler — two starkly different leaders — as he goes through the process.
“I’d say what I want … is somebody that’s going to be obsessive about the details, obsessive about work, obsessive about getting the most out of our players, getting the most out of our staff,” Posey said. “Somebody that will inspire confidence in our players on the field and also all the interactions that happen off the field as well.”
Here are six potential candidates to become the Giants’ newest manager:
Skip Schumaker
Schumaker, 45, will be one of baseball’s most sought-after managers. He spent two years leading the Miami Marlins in ’23 and ’24, posting an overall record of 146-178. He won 2023 NL Manager of the Year after guiding the Marlins to a surprise playoff berth, then elected not to return as manager after the team went 62-100 in his second season.
Schumaker spent this past year with the Texas Rangers serving as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young, but it’s not difficult to imagine Schumaker managing again in 2026.
Mark Hallberg
Hallberg, 39, jumps out as the most viable replacement for Melvin among the Giants’ internal options despite having no experience managing in the majors. Posey and Hallberg were roommates at Florida State, and Posey has been vocal about his belief that Hallberg will be a major-league manager at some point.
Since 2020, Hallberg has held several roles on Kapler and Melvin’s coaching staffs, serving as first-base coach over the last two seasons. When Posey was asked about Hallberg on Monday, Posey said he plans to “keep all my names tight.”
Bruce Bochy
There has been no shortage of fans clamoring for the Giants to re-hire Bochy, whose contract with the Rangers ended at the conclusion of this season. Bochy’s legacy in San Francisco is already cemented in stone after leading the team to three World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
For all Bochy, 70, accomplished in the Bay Area, a reunion doesn’t likely doesn’t make a ton of sense for either party. Posey said “it’s not ideal” to have this much turnover among its leadership ranks, and it’s hard to imagine Bochy being a long-term solution at manager.
Craig Albernaz
Albernaz, 42, served as the Giants’ bullpen and catching catching instructor during all four years of Kapler’s tenure in San Francisco before joining the Cleveland Guardians (alongside Kai Correa) ahead of the 2024 season. After serving as Stephen Vogt’s bench coach in ’24, Albernaz was elevated to associate manager in ’25.
Albernaz was a finalist when the Marlins and Chicago White Sox had managerial vacancies, but he elected to return to work under Vogt with the Guardians, who have made the playoffs for a second straight year.
Nick Hundley
Hundley, 42, has a prior relationship with Posey, having served as his backup catcher in ’17 and ’18. He, like Schumaker, currently works for the Rangers’ front office, serving as a special assistant to the general manager.
Hundley, the 2017 Willie Mac Award winner, was in attendance on Friday when shortstop Willy Adames was named the 2025 Willie Mac Award winner, and it’s not implausible to think that Posey gauged Hundley’s interest in managing.
Rocco Baldelli
Similar to Melvin, Baldelli was fired on Monday despite having his option picked up for the 2026 season. Baldelli, 44, spend six seasons as the Twins’ manager, ending his tenure with a 527-505 record, guiding the Twins to three postseason appearances and winning the 2019 Manager of the Year.
Minnesota lost 92 games in Baldelli’s final year, the most he’s accrued in a single season as manager, though that lowly record can be attributed to the Twins’ fire sale at the trade deadline.