It was on Friday night, September 26, at Oracle Park, and the San Francisco Giants hosted their annual Willie Mac Award ceremony to honor the player who best demonstrated what it means to be a great team player on and off the field during the 2025 season. The Willie Mac Award is named after Giants legend Willie McCovey, and is the only award given out by the organization that is named after a former player.
To little surprise, this year’s award went to Giants shortstop Willy Adames, who, in his first year of a seven year, $182 million contract, was voted by his teammates, coaches, and fans as the most inspirational player in the clubhouse.
Following a pregame ceremony—which included Adames catching the ceremonial first pitch from his parents—Adames crushed his 29th home run down the left-field line, just scraping past the foul pole in the bottom of the first inning. He would finish his first year with the Giants with 30 home runs, becoming the first Giant since Barry Bonds in 2004 to hit at least 30 home runs in a single season.
Despite Adames’s accomplishments, the season as a whole was mediocre, filled with both highs and lows. The club finished with an even 81-81 record, just one game better than last season, marking the second time in four years they’ve finished at .500.
Former Giants manager Bob Melvin, who was let go on Monday, September 9, concluded his short two-year tenure as skipper with a 161-163 record—a .497 winning percentage. Under Melvin, the Giants could never sustain momentum for multiple months at a time.
Melvin, a Bay Area native who played for the Giants early in his career, is one of the most experienced managers in Major League Baseball, with 22 seasons of managing experience. During that span, he only won four division titles—one with the Arizona Diamondbacks and three with the Oakland Athletics (including one during the modified COVID-19 season).
Now, the Giants enter the offseason with major questions about which direction to take when it comes to their next manager. President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey will take his first major step in his front-office role by leading the managerial search. Will he look for someone younger and less experienced, or will he turn to a veteran manager with a long résumé?
A few names come to mind. Bruce Bochy, the legendary manager bound for Cooperstown, led the Giants to three World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014, and won another with the Texas Rangers in 2023 before being let go after this season. A reunion may seem unlikely, but it’s hard to rule out given that Posey played under Bochy early in his career.
Another name that has surfaced is Hall of Fame–bound manager Dusty Baker, who managed the Giants from 1993 to 2002 and led the team to a National League pennant in 2002. Baker currently serves as a special advisor to the Giants’ front office. He also managed the Cubs, Reds, Nationals, and Astros, earning his first World Series ring with Houston in 2022.
Other potential candidates include former Giants catcher Nick Hundley, who was Posey’s teammate in 2017 and 2018, and former Giants reliever Javier López, who pitched for the team from 2010 to 2016. Whether Posey reunites with a former teammate or a former manager, the Giants will look to return to their championship ways.
