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I’ve seen this play out many times, this whole hire-a-manager process that is occupying Buster Posey’s days and nights. I’ve covered 15 managers over the years, and many hires were extremely different from the guys they replaced.

It’s all too common. That’s why we saw the drastic change from old-school Bruce Bochy to new-school Gabe Kapler. And then another extreme change from Kapler to Bob Melvin, who came in to provide some balance but leaned more old school than new school.

With Posey now in charge of bringing in a new voice, it would be no surprise if the Giants’ next manager is far different from Melvin, if only because that’s how this works. Plus, it’s safe to say Posey prefers it that way.

I learned early when I was in San Diego covering the Padres. The first manager I spent time around was as gruff as it got. Dick Williams, who would go months without talking to some of his players. Former infielder Tim Flannery, long before his Giants coaching days, was so dismayed with Williams’ managing style that he once vowed to run him over with his car.

Williams’ replacement was Steve Boros, perhaps the most polite manager in history, so polite that players took advantage of him. In one postgame interview, he tried to explain a rough outing by Goose Gossage by suggesting Goose was tired, a sentiment we relayed to the high-strung closer, prompting him to charge into the manager’s office and scream at Boros to never again tell reporters he was tired – even though Boros was in his office shower at the time, soaked and lathered up, and tried to ask Goose if they could talk later. Goose kept screaming.

After Boros came a younger version of Williams, Larry Bowa, who was over-the-type fiery but swore at his introductory news conference that he had mellowed. Well, the Padres opened the season with three straight losses at Candlestick Park, after which a livid Bowa told us, “I’m horse-bleep. The coaches are horse-bleep. The players are horse-bleep. We’re all bleeping horse-bleep.”

When it was time to move on from Bowa, general manager Jack McKeon said the heck with it. The next manager he hired was himself.

The point is, teams don’t generally replace a personality with a similar personality. That’s why they tell us they’re “going in a new direction.” That’s why Posey’s hire won’t be anything like Melvin. That was made that clear when Posey put to rest any thought that he could bring Bruce Bochy back. That essentially meant no on the Joe Maddon/Bud Black types.

Posey wants a younger manager, his own guy, someone who will grow into the position with him, a partnership that will ignite a new era of winning baseball for an organization that hasn’t had back-to-back winning seasons in a decade.

Since Posey assumed duties as president of baseball operations, we’ve learned he likes to surround himself with folks he trusts, folks he’s familiar with. He hired Randy Winn as his farm director and Bobby Evans and Jeff Berry, his agent, as advisers. Unlike those hires, Zack Minasian didn’t have a long relationship with Posey and wasn’t initially a candidate for the GM job, but he already was in house and eventually got an interview. Posey took a liking to him, and now they’re inseparable.

Posey’s conversation with Kerry Crowley on Section 415, The Standard’s new Bay Area Sports podcast, was telling. Asked if a pre-existing relationship in the hiring process is important, a contemporary if you will, Posey said not necessarily. But reading between the lines, it sure seems the preference.

“I think it can matter,” Posey said. “I don’t think it’s an absolute for me. One of the benefits to having a team in the front office is that maybe if I hadn’t come across somebody personally, somebody else in the front office has. Or maybe it’s a coach. There’s a lot of relationships I’ve made, but there’s also a lot of people in our inner circle who have also made relationships. So I think it’s important to keep an open mind. Would it be nice if there’s some sort of prior connection? Yeah, I think it would be nice, but I don’t think it’s an absolute.”

Nick Hundley is fast becoming the popular choice to succeed Melvin, and it’s no secret Posey has a warm relationship with him from their days as teammates in 2017 and 2018. Hundley was a backup catcher, but he had enough clubhouse presence and leadership that he was voted by his peers as a Willie Mac Award winner, given annually to the team’s most inspirational player, the only backup catcher in the 46-year history of the award. He lacks managing experience, but that’s hardly a hangup anymore. Under Hundley, group decisions would be the norm.

Craig Albernaz also fits the bill, a former Giants coach with an outgoing and refreshing personality and currently associate manager on Stephen Vogt’s staff in Cleveland. He was the catching coach in Posey’s final season as a player and is considered a manager in waiting.

As for Posey’s reference to relationships his assistants have built, in regard to the manager search, let’s not forget that Minasian’s time in Milwaukee overlapped with former second baseman Rickie Weeks, now associate manager under Pat Murphy.

Posey would be wise to check in with Tigers bench coach George Lombard Sr. and Luis Rojas, Felipe Alou’s son who had a two-year stint managing the Mets and now is a Yankees coach.

I heard former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, a Santa Rosa native who grew up a Giants fan, spoke this week with Posey. Unlike others, Hyde might not have a close relationship with Posey, but he took the O’s from 108 losses in 2019 to 101 wins in 2023 only to get fired in May after Baltimore’s poor start.

Last week, Posey provided insight on what he wants in a manager – obsessive about details, about work ethic, about getting the most out of players and coaches, on and off the field – and he offered further prerequisites on the Section 415 podcast.

“The job of the manager ultimately is to set the tone every single day,” Posey said. “Starts in spring training. Carries all the way through the year. Somebody that has a presence about him that can lead even without speaking. I think that’s important. Has to be somebody who can read a room really well. Understanding there’s a lot of different personalities that you have. And when you do measure those personalities, then being able to be decisive about understanding what makes each guy tick. I think that can serve as potential for some accountability conversations, some motivation that can be emphasized by the manager.”

I’ve covered Giants managerial transitions from Roger Craig to Dusty Baker to Felipe Alou to Bochy to Kapler to Melvin. And on the other side of the bay, Tony La Russa to Art Howe to Ken Macha to Bob Geren to Melvin to Mark Kotsay.

Now it’s Posey’s turn to make the call. The likelihood is he’ll find someone whose players won’t want to run him over or bother him during shower time. We’ve come a long way.