Former SF Giants GM Pete Putila to join Braves: report

Buster Posey announced during his introductory press conference that Pete Putila would transition from being the Giants’ general manager to another role in the organization. Roughly a month later, Putila is set to work for a new team entirely.

Putila will be joining the Atlanta Braves as the team’s assistant general manager of international scouting, as first reported by ESPN’s Jorge Castillo.

Additionally, the Texas Rangers announced that they have hired Justin Viele, who had coached for the Giants since 2020, as their new hitting coach. Viele will be reunited with Donnie Ecker, who was one of San Francisco’s three hitting coaches in 2020 and 2021. Ecker now serves as Texas’ bench coach and offensive coordinator.

Putila was hired by former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in October 2022 and spent two seasons as the Giants’ general manager in 2023 and 2024. During that time, San Francisco went 159-165.

This past Friday, Posey made his first major decision as the team’s new president of baseball operations, promoting Zack Minasian to general manager from vice president of pro scouting. Minasian joined the Giants in 2019 when Posey was still an active player. Prior to joining the Giants, Minasian, the godson of late Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, spent 14 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.