SAN FRANCISCO -- President of baseball operations Buster Posey told reporters at the General Managers Meetings on Tuesday that the Giants were “pretty close” to finalizing a deal with a new hitting coach.
On Wednesday, that search appeared to inch even closer to the finish line.
According to multiple reports, the Giants are in talks to hire James Rowson as their offensive coordinator, which would be a newly created position on manager Tony Vitello’s coaching staff.
FanSided’s Robert Murray was the first to report the Giants’ interest in Rowson, which has not been confirmed by the club.
The Giants were looking for a new hitting coach to replace Hunter Mense, who joined the Royals last week. Mense left to take an assistant role in Kansas City, as he hails from Missouri and wanted to be closer to his family.
Assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard is expected to stay with the Giants and work alongside Rowson.
Rowson, 50, had served as the Yankees’ lead hitting coach since the 2024 season, though he became available after his contract expired at the end of the year. Under Rowson, the Yankees led the Majors in home runs from 2024-25, earning back-to-back American League Silver Slugger Offensive Team of the Year titles over that span. Still, the Yankees’ lineup struggled to maintain that same momentum this year, ranking second in the Majors in homers but tying for ninth in runs scored.
A native of Mount Vernon, N.Y., Rowson was a ninth-round Draft pick of the Mariners in 1994 and played in the Minors for three seasons before transitioning into coaching. The former outfielder began his coaching career with the Angels organization, spending four years as a Minor League hitting coach with Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga (2004-05), Class A Cedar Rapids (2003) and Rookie-Level Provo (2002).
Rowson spent another nine years coaching in the Yankees organization from 2006-11 and 2014-16, serving as the Minor League hitting coordinator in seven of those seasons. In between those stints with the Yankees, Rowson spent two years with the Cubs (2012-13), working as a Minor League hitting coordinator before being elevated to Major League hitting coach in June 2012.
Rowson’s experience also includes a three-year run as the Twins’ hitting coach (2017-19), two seasons as the Marlins’ bench coach (2020-22) and one season as the Tigers’ assistant hitting coach (2023).
In San Francisco, Rowson will be charged with revitalizing an offense that couldn’t find any consistency in 2026 despite the presence of several established hitters like Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames. The Giants were 15th in batting average (.245) but underperformed in several other major offensive categories this year, ranking 20th in homers (178), 26th in runs scored (669), 29th in on-base percentage (.306) and 30th in walks (449).
What is Posey hoping to see from his new hitting coach moving forward?
“Identity is a term that's thrown out there a lot, and I think identity sometimes comes from the players as they kind of figure out how they can be most productive in the box,” Posey said Tuesday. “Ideally, you want somebody who’s going to be able to read the room, read the players, get the most out of them, and then help them form that identity, whatever it may be.
“I think some of the best coaches are guys that are culture builders that have a way to rally the guys through the good and bad times. Obviously, it's important to be able to know mechanics on a swing, to be able to work across departments, with [strength and conditioning], the bio department, with [research and development], our analytics group. Certainly, these coaching roles are bigger jobs than when I first started.”
MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos contributed reporting from Las Vegas.