San Jose Giants manager Bill Hayes resigns in the middle of the season

With six weeks left in their season, the Single-A San Jose Giants have a new manager.

The Giants tabbed Hector Borg, 34, to lead a club featuring the two top prospects –Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos– in the organization’s farm system after the abrupt resignation of first-year manager Bill Hayes.

Hayes was selected to lead the Single-A Giants this season after spending last season as a minor league catching coordinator. The Giants expected Hayes to help facilitate the development of 2018 first round draft choice, Bart, but the catcher was hit by a pitch in April and lost a significant portion of the season due to a fractured hand that required surgery.

The organization did not list an official reason for Hayes’ departure, but the club has underperformed from a win-loss standpoint relative to internal expectations entering the season.

The San Jose Giants finished the first half of the year at 30-39 in the California League North standings and have opened the second half with a record of 11-15.

Borg managed a Giants’ Arizona Rookie League team in 2017 before serving as the manager of the short-season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes last summer. Until he was appointed as the San Jose Giants’ manager, Borg was working for the organization as a fundamentals coach in the Dominican Summer League.

Hayes’ resignation brought a sudden ending to his second stint as the Single-A San Jose manager. Hayes also led the club in 2002 before spending the next 15 seasons as a member of the major league coaching staff.

Borg is the 18th manager in the 32-year history of the San Jose Giants.