In recent weeks and months, Buster Posey started to think about taking on a role in the baseball operations department for the Giants, something he said he would never do after retiring.
The star catcher had insisted he wouldn’t pursue this path when he retired three years ago. However, Posey really missed being part of a team.
As the long-time face of the San Francisco franchise with three World Series titles, Posey will now be in charge of shaping the future of the club.
The 37-year-old retired catcher was introduced as the president of baseball operations on Tuesday, just one day after Farhan Zaidi was let go.
“As far as general philosophy as many of you know me a lot of my basic principles are pretty simple,” Posey said. “I want us to be known as a team that’s the ultimate prepared team, one that’s fundamentals are held at a really high standard and this is all about the players.”
Posey’s first task will be to hire a general manager since Pete Putila will not be returning to that role but will take on different responsibilities. Posey also expressed his respect for manager Bob Melvin, although his contract status beyond the 2025 season isn’t a pressing concern right now.
“It’s Buster Posey, he’s the Giants, that’s a big deal,” Melvin said. “When somebody like Buster asks for the ball you give it to him.”
Melvin believes the Giants will likely be “probably a little bit more well-rounded team” than the one he managed in his first season after leaving the San Diego Padres.
In Posey’s last season of 2021, the team won a franchise-record 107 games and the NL West, but they finished with an 80-82 record this year, one more win than in Gabe Kapler’s last year of 2023. All-Star pitcher Logan Webb is excited to see Posey back in his role.
“Buster is one of those guys that makes everyone in the room perk up when he was in the room and you hear his voice,” Webb said in a text message. “I was lucky enough to play with him and see what he brought into the clubhouse as a player each and every day.
Now he gets to truly mold a team the way he thinks baseball should look and how it should be played and I’m excited for that. I think it’s a very good thing for the Giants moving forward.”
Posey “has a three-year deal with no contingencies or anything,” according to Giants Chairman Greg Johnson. The seven-time All-Star will also stay on the ownership board, and Johnson noted that if any conflicts arise, someone will step out of a meeting as needed.
Another task will be bringing back left-hander and two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, who received a $62 million, two-year contract with an opt-out in March. He bounced back from a slow start and injuries to finish with a 5-3 record and a 3.12 ERA over 20 starts.
“Blake’s one of the premier starting pitchers in the big leagues, has been for a while,” Posey said. “He’s obviously somebody that’s going to be a priority for us to take a hard look at and make a decision as a group.”
Posey played a key role in finalizing Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman’s $151 million, six-year contract last month, keeping him with the Giants from 2025-30 without going through free agency.
To take this job, Posey needed the support of his wife Kristen, as the couple has four children. They returned to the Bay Area after living in Posey’s home state of Georgia after his playing career ended, but they didn’t have this plan in mind at the time.
“I think she could just tell how excited I was about this opportunity,” he said.
Posey was the Giants’ fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2008 draft and won the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year award. He was named the 2012 NL MVP while helping San Francisco win its second World Series title in three years.
He is also finishing his degree in social science from Florida State through online courses and has one semester left. “I’m chipping away at it,” he said.
By building a strong and experienced team around him, Posey hopes to empower everyone in the organization, from the lower minor leagues to the top, without making those who work for him feel watched.
Posey emphasized how baseball connects family members and strangers while also recognizing the game’s entertainment value. “We’re in a memory-making business,” he said.
Posey plans to combine both scouting and analytics in the Giants’ front office. “Most definitely going to use analytics, analytics are here and they’re here to stay, and it would be a mistake to say that you’re not going to use that information.”
Johnson mentioned that he and Posey will look for others to complement Posey’s skills and that the former first-round draft pick expressed a strong desire to be more involved in building the team — “it was really Buster’s desire to be accountable 100% for the baseball and that spoke a lot to me.”
