Speculation about former Tennessee Vols coach Tony Vitello’s future in MLB is heating up this week following some comments that insider Bob Nightengale made at the All-Star break.

Vitello, who is in his first season as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, has had some ups and downs during his first few months in the big leagues.

“The Giants took an unprecedented gamble when they hired Vitello from the University of Tennessee, and it has badly backfired,” wrote Nightengale. “It certainly hasn’t helped that the Giants surrounded him with a huge contingent of young and inexperienced coaches, but they are the biggest mess outside Queens.

“They’ve embarrassed themselves with their performance, leaving them no choice but to place every veteran on the trade block but starter Logan Webb. It might be too embarrassing to fire Vitello after one year, but it wouldn’t surprise a soul to see Vitello return to the college ranks if the right opening comes his way.”

Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey, the man who hired Vitello last fall, joined KNBR’s Murph and Markus on Thursday and was asked for his “frank evaluation” of Vitello as San Francisco starts the second half of the season with a 41-55 record.

“My frank evaluation is that Tony and his staff are doing a really good job. … I get to be there every day,” said Posey. “I get to see their interactions. I get to see their work. I get to see them trying to solve this puzzle that we’re in right now. So, I think Tony and his staff are doing a great job.”

Again, Posey is the man who hired Vitello, so I doubt anyone expected any other answer.

As for Vitello, there’s no doubt that he’s passionate, smart, insightful, and cares a lot. And there’s certainly no doubt that he’s working his tail off in San Francisco.

The biggest question is whether this is the right job for Vitello.

I guess time will tell, but I still think Vitello and his style are better suited for the college game.