With the Giants facing a critical offseason, one of the utmost priorities will be constructing a coaching staff under newly hired manager Bob Melvin.
Melvin joined NBC Sports Bay Area's Laura Britt on the latest episode of the "Giants Talk" podcast, where he hinted at possibly looking to add coaches with previous ties to the organization to his new staff in San Francisco.
"We're trying to get a coaching staff together here," Melvin told Britt. "We're trying to get some local flavor to it as well. Maybe some past Giants are going to show up. So that's the focus right now."
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Melvin made it a point to state his desire to bring in longtime Giants third baseman Matt Williams as a coach after the latter served on his staff in Oakland and the last two seasons with the San Diego Padres.
"Today is the first of November, a lot of contracts expire today," Melvin told Laura Britt. "So today's kind of the day we can reach out to some guys that maybe were under contract somewhere else. I know Matt Williams comes to mind, and he is someone that would be very important we'd bring to this staff, and I'm hoping that's the case."
Williams spent two seasons as the manager of the Washington Nationals in 2014 and 2015 and has served as the third base coach for Melvin at multiple stops.
More importantly, Williams has the Bay Area roots that Melvin has prioritized after spending a decade as a local icon with the Giants from 1987 to 1996.
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Melvin then detailed why he believes these ties to the region and the organization are vital when filling out a staff that is tasked with helping turn the franchise around.
"I want guys to understand the history of the Giants, and a lot of guys that grew up in the Bay Area understand that," Melvin said. "I also want continuity in the organization because you have to believe when you're in a good organization, there's a chance to get to the big leagues. Typically, in Oakland, how we did it was if we had a coaching position open, it came from within the system. It created a really good organization where everybody was together, everybody knew that there was a certain way to do it, an A's way to do it, just like there's a Giants way to do it."
The Giants' new manager made it clear that there is no exact blueprint for filling out a coaching staff, but rather, the most important thing is to maintain a balanced approach that involves outside hires while also offering the opportunity for promotion from within the organization.
"So there has to be a balance," Melvin shared. "I'm new coming in. There are going to be some guys that are important to me that I'll be bringing in from the outside. But I also want to promote from within, and hopefully, there is some carryover coaches, but hopefully, there is going to be at least one coach in the system that you're going to see in the big leagues as well. So it's a little bit of a balance."
Melvin joins the Giants with 20 years of experience as a major league manager, with his lengthy resume and first-hand knowledge sure to prove invaluable as he fills out his staff ahead of one of the most important seasons in franchise history.