The 2019 season marked the end of an era for the San Francisco Giants as not only is ace Madison Bumgarner set to hit free agency, but manager Bruce Bochy is also headed for retirement.
Bochy has had a Hall of Fame career spanning 25 years as a manager of the San Diego Padres and Giants. He won World Series with San Francisco in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Considering he managed two National League West teams, Bochy was a long-time rival for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bochy finished his career against them this past weekend at Oracle Park, where he was paid tribute to.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was there to celebrate Bochy in addition to managing his team, of course. Roberts played for Bochy both on the Padres and Giants, so the two are very close.
While Bochy has retired, Roberts does not believe this is the last time he will be managing in the big leagues, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“There’s more in there. He’s got more years of managing,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “I think he’s going to manage again. I do.
“I just think that the way that he has evolved as far as how the game has evolved – he’s done that,” Roberts said. “He’s a Hall of Fame manager. But to see things from one way and do it so well for so long and now be introduced to a different way of doing things with a lot of younger players that are very exciting to watch and coach – I think that intrigues him.”
Bochy is only 64 years old, so it would not be that surprising if he eventually came out of retirement to get back in the dugout for at least a few more years. He has already been linked to the Padres managerial opening.
As far as the Giants’ vacancy with Bochy no longer at the helm, president of baseball operations and former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi will likely interview a handful of candidates before naming a replacement.
One of those could be Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren as he has a history with Zaidi both in the Dodgers and Oakland Athletics organizations. Geren was recently linked to the Giants, although with the Dodgers currently in the midst of a postseason race, that presumably is Geren’s main focus at the moment.
