SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants are interviewing for a position on Manager Bruce Bochy’s coaching staff before they have an official vacancy – and a prime candidate is a name that will resonate among their fans.

Chili Davis met with Giants officials on Thursday about becoming their major league hitting coach, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions. Davis, who spent the previous three years as the Boston Red Sox’s hitting instructor, also met with the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

Giants GM Bobby Evans would neither confirm nor deny the meeting with Davis – an understandable position to take, given that the team has no official vacancies on Bochy’s coaching staff.

But it’s expected that there will be changes to the coaching staff after the Giants finished 64-98 and ended the season with baseball’s worst record for just the second time since 1902. They finished last in the majors in home runs and OPS; only the Padres scored fewer runs.

The recalibration of their coaching staff is complicated by the fact that their current hitting coach, Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens, is a candidate for the managerial opening in Detroit. While reports indicated that the Tigers were on the verge of hiring Ron Gardenhire, that process has not concluded.

Indications are that the Giants see the need to overhaul their hitting instruction, both at the major league and minor league levels, but they also see Meulens as an astute member of their organization that they wish to retain. It’s possible that Meulens could be shifted to another position on the major league staff, such as bench coach, and be groomed as a potential successor after 2019 when Bochy’s contract expires.

Davis, 57, spent three seasons as the A’s hitting coach before joining the Red Sox, who recently dismissed manager John Farrell and reportedly are on the verge of hiring current Astros coach Alex Cora.

Davis was a three-time All-Star and hit 350 home runs over a 19-year major league career that began in 1981, when he broke in with the Giants as a highly touted prospect. He played six full seasons with the Giants, finishing fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 1982 and making two NL All-Star teams before signing as a free agent with the California Angels.

Davis is the first Jamaican-born player to reach the major leagues.